Rogue Rovers Episode 2: Getting to Know You
by Rogue Rover
Summary: J and Ice Blaze have been Road Rovers for a couple of months, and they get to meet some new friends. Plus they get a chance to experience their very first mission when Parvo strikes back. This is a revised version of the story.
1. Crisis in the Middle East

Episode 2: Getting to Know You

Rogue Rovers

Disclaimer: I don't own Road Rovers. I don't own Dylan, Jake, Rune, Briggs, Zudnik, and Raymond. They belong to Dylan Rinald. I also don't own Elmer Fudd or the Ballad of Jed Clampett. J, Ice Blaze, and Khalil belong to me. If you want to use them, feel free to use them in your stories (make sure to credit me). Feel free to comment and make suggestions.

Chapter 1: Crisis in the Middle East

Somewhere in the Middle East was an oil refinery. The oil refinery consisted mostly of silos for oil containment before being sent to be poured into barrels and warehouses used for storing said barrels until being shipped to their destinations. There was also a laboratory that is used for testing the quality of the oil.

Inside the lab, there were numerous computer terminals and lab equipment used for testing the quality of the oil. Numerous lab technicians were walking through the large facility. Some of them were at the filling machines, obtaining oil samples to ensure the right quality for the oil, while others were sitting at the computer terminals, monitoring the process and the machines.

One of the lab technicians walked past one of the filling machines in the lab. Suddenly, a hand covered by dark brown fur quickly covered the mouth of the technician and pulled the technician into the shadows of the large filling machine. The technician tried to scream, but the screams were muffled by the mouth still being covered. A sharp blow to the neck caused the technician to collapse onto the floor unconscious.

The owner of the hand gave a dark chuckle as it crouched down and removed the hooded lab coat, goggles, and gloves from the lab technician and said, "That was too easy."

The figure stepped out of the shadow of the large filling machine and into the open space of the lab, wearing the lab coat, gloves, and goggles that belonged to the lab technician. The replacement technician walked over to another technician and tapped the second technician on the shoulder. The second technician stopped what he was doing and turned toward the replacement.

"We have a problem," the replacement said in a gruff voice.

"What kind of problem?" the second technician asked with a confused look on his face.

The replacement smiled and pulled out a handgun, pointing the gun at the technician, who quickly held up his hands, and said, "A witness problem."

The replacement fired the handgun, which fired a tranquilizer dart into the technician's neck. The sound of the gunfire echoed throughout the lab, and every personnel paused in what they were doing and looked toward the replacement.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," the replacement announced to the lab personnel. "However, you all won't be seeing anything after that." The replacement tapped on headset and gave an order.

Numerous explosions erupted around the walls of the lab, causing all of the lab personnel to panic. Entering through the holes that were created from the explosions were monstrous dog creatures that were very muscular and growling. The creatures charged toward the panic stricken lab technicians, who were attempting to escape toward an exit.

As the ambush was taking place in the lab, the replacement casually walked through the lab and took off the lab clothing, revealing a gruff looking male golden retriever, German shepherd, and Doberman mix, with dark brown fur and few discoloration patches that is placed throughout the body. The mutt had blood red eyes and wore a dark blue tank top, a pair of black pants, with a holster on the right for his handgun, and black leather boots.

He surveyed the area as the monstrous creatures were taking care of the lab personnel, and as he looked up, he noticed some security cameras. He let out a growl and pulled out a magazine and inserted it into the handgun. He pointed the weapon at the camera and fired a shot, destroying the camera. After destroying the camera, he walked around the lab to check to see if there were any more security cameras, taking them out if he saw one.

Once he finished eliminating the security cameras, he tapped on the headset and said, "Phase One is complete. We're now moving onto Phase Two."

A male voice answered through the earpiece, "Excellent. Make sure you clean the place out. I don't want any oil left behind."

"Yeah, yeah," the mutt replied, while rolling his eyes. "I'll make sure those brain dead butt sniffers don't botch it up like they did at the last one." The mutt terminated the communication link and turned his attention to the beasts. "Listen up! This place needs to be cleaned out, and I don't want a repeat of last time! If it happens, I'll have all your heads on a silver platter and use your carcasses for my target practice! Do you understand?"

All of the beasts quickly nodded their heads and began to empty the filling machines of the oil by filling empty barrels with oil. Others went over to the storage facility, where the rest of the oil drums were stored. Outside of the storage facility were numerous semis, with the trailer doors open, parked at the loading docks.

Inside the storage facility, numerous assembly lines of these beastly creatures were passing oil drums to one another from the storage facility to the trailers. Few of the creatures are inside the trailer, stacking the oil drums into the trailers.

As this theft was taking place in the Middle East, thousands of miles away from the theft in the Oval Office in the White House, the President of the United States was going over some vital documents that require his approval.

"Okay now, I need to veto this bill on a tax increase on corporations and put my signature on the bill for bigger tax breaks for corporations," President Bush said out loud as he went through some paperwork that was piling up on his large oak desk in the oval office.

The oval office was a large oval shaped room with white walls. In the center of the caramel and cream striped carpet is the Presidential seal. Also in the center of the carpet were some couches and chairs. Along the walls were bookshelves and chairs. On the left side of the room was a grandfather clock. The large oak desk that President Bush is currently sitting at is sitting in the back of the room directly in front of the window, which provides a view of the South Lawn.

As President Bush continued to work on the bills that came from Congress, a secret service agent rushed into the oval.

"Mr. President," the agent heaved breathlessly. "Turn on the television quick."

"Is there a problem?" Bush asked the agent as he fumbled for the remote under a growing pile of paper.

"See for yourself sir."

Bush found the remote and turned on the television. The television was already set on a news channel. On screen, a reporter was detailing some breaking news.

"We are receiving word now that numerous oil refineries in the Middle East have been breached, and oil drums have been stolen from each of the refineries," the reporter said, facing the camera. "As a result of the shortage, Middle Eastern nations have drastically increased the price of oil to $150 a barrel. If this continues, gas prices would surely sky rocket."

President Bush turned off the television and said, "This is terrible."

"What should we do Mr. President?" the agent asked, looking at the distraught President.

"Get Cheney in here. He should know what to do."

"Mr. President, the Vice President is out hunting again."

"Well, I hope he has his hunting glasses this time," Bush commented as he rubbed his temples. He then realized something. "Aw shoot. Does this mean I have to make this hard decision all by myself?"

"I'm afraid so sir."

President Bush placed his elbows on the desk and rested his head in his hands. He lifted his head and thought out loud, "What would Bill do in a situation like this?"

"Hillary!" Bill Clinton cried out while sitting behind the oval office desk. However, no one came into the office. "Oh, she's not here."


	2. Getting to Know You

Chapter 2: Getting to Know You

Elsewhere in the United States, a large hole where a research laboratory used to reside sat a few miles outside of Socorro, New Mexico. Within the hole, there was a rain forest-like cavern with numerous trees and a waterfall. In the clearing of the rainforest was a large complex that is made up of numerous fire hydrant shaped buildings.

Within one of the buildings was a large urban themed bedroom. Three out of the four walls had a brick wall paint scheme, resembling a side of a building. The left wall next to the entrance was blank. Next to the blank wall was a home theater system that was embedded in the wall. There are three sets of surround sound systems in the room: one near the ceiling, one halfway down the wall, and one more near the floor. Four hidden computer projectors that point toward the blank wall, creating a video wall, are located in the ceiling. The floor close to the video wall is lowered. A coffee table sat in front of the video wall, and a curved couch sat behind the coffee table. A king size bed sat across from the entrance. A nightstand sat next to the bed on the right, and a desk that is sitting a few feet from the bed sat on the left side of the bed. A door that leads to bathroom sat along the right wall. A keyboard, turntables, and an alto saxophone are located in the lower right hand corner of the room. A dresser is located in the upper right hand corner of the room. Next to the dresser is a walk-in closet.

Sitting on the curved couch were two teenage male anisapiens: a white tiger and a shiba inu. The white tiger felosapien had a muscular build, and he wore a black basketball jersey with the number two on it, a short sleeve t-shirt with the sleeves torn out underneath it, and baggy jeans with some holes in it. The most unique feature on the white tiger was his chocolate brown eyes. The shiba inu had a fair built body, but he wasn't as muscular as the tiger. He had dark brown fur throughout his body, with the exception of his muzzle and under part of the tail, where it is light brown. He was also more rugged looking than normal shiba inus. He wore a red South Pole t-shirt, baggy pants, and sunglasses that are sitting on top of his head. The shiba inu also had a leg cast on his right leg, and the leg is sitting on top of the table with a pillow underneath the leg. The white tiger had his gaze transfixed on the video wall as he watched a reality show, but the shiba inu had his head rested on his left hand that was sitting on the left arm of the couch, with a bored expression on his face.

The shiba inu let out a groan, reclining his head back on the back of the couch, and asked the white tiger, "They call this quality entertainment? If so, then the people in Hollywood need a lobotomy or a CAT scan. I mean take this singin' competition for example. Sure, it may seem innovative durin' the first season, but each season afterward is the exact same format."

The white tiger looked at the canosapien and replied, "But I like this show."

"You n' the millions of Americans that are wastin' part of their lives watchin' the same thing each week," the canosapien answered with a huff and crossed his arms.

"It's not the same each week, bro," the white tiger defended as he turned his head to his left, looking at the canosapien. "Each week, the contestants are singin' different songs, n' we get to vote 'em off until there is only one left."

"But the process is still the same," the canosapien retorted as he closed his eyes. "N' next year, it'll be the exact thing, but guess what Blaze, there'll be new people that'll go through the same thing as these people did this year. Besides, these reality shows are staged."

"J, what are you talkin' about?" the white tiger asked, cocking his head to the left, with a look of disbelief on his face.

"I'm talkin' about the people that are supposed to be 'stranded' in the middle of a jungle in a foreign country," J answered, shaking his right fist, with his eyes still closed. "I bet those people can't even last a whole week before being jumped by some wild animal that lurks in the jungle. Those networks must've paid big bucks for those elaborate sets."

Before the white tiger had a chance to reply to J's opinion, a knock came from the door. The white tiger got up from his spot on the couch and walked over to the door and opened it up. When he opened the door, he saw five canosapiens standing in the hallway.

The first canosapien was a male German Shepherd, Doberman, and Golden Retriever mix with light brown fur with patches of dark brown throughout his body. His left ear had a chunk taken out. His tail is long and fluffy, and his hair is fluffy too. He wore a blue and red football jersey with the number one on it, blue jeans, sneakers, and a red and blue headband to keep his hair out of his face.

The second canosapien was a male German Shepherd with black ears that are erect, light brown fur throughout his body with the exception of tan fur around the eyes and underneath the muzzle to the neck. He has reddish-brown eyes. The end of his tail, along with his shoulders, knees, and elbows are also tan. He wore a grey tank top, camouflage pants, army boots, and a camouflage beret.

The third canosapien was a Siberian Husky/Wolf mix, with a grey fur on the back side and white fur on the front. His hands are deep grey. His ears are erect and are ash grey, almost black. The tail is straight and fluffy. He wore a maroon t-shirt with the Road Rovers insignia on the right shoulder and black slacks.

The fourth canosapien was a female beagle. She had short light brown fur all over her body and white fur around her muzzle. Despite having short fur all over her body, she had long hair that extends to her waist, and she had a tail that is longer and fluffier than regular beagles. She had emerald eyes. She wore a red tank top and a pair of goldenrod shorts.

The last canosapien was a male Black Labrador, with black fur and had a bit of hair on top of his head. His hair had bits of grey streaks in it. His back and neck are also grey.

"Hello," the white tiger greeted the group of five outside of the room. "May I help y'all wit' something?"

"Hi, I'm Dylan," the German Shepherd, Doberman, and Golden Retriever mix said, pointing to himself. "These are my friends: Briggs."

The German Shepherd gave a salute and greeted the white tiger. "Welcome aboard soldier."

"Zudnik."

The Siberian Husky/Wolf mix shook hands with the white tiger. "Greetings comrade."

"Rune."

"Hello," the beagle greeted with a cheerful smile on her face. "It's nice to meet you."

"And Raymond."

"Hey, how's it hanging?" the Black Labrador said as he and the white tiger did a handshake.

"Nothin' much," the tiger replied after finishing the handshake. "I'm sorry. C'mon in."

The white tiger moved out of the way so that the group could enter into the bedroom. When they entered, they were amazed at the size of the room.

"Wow, this room is huge" Rune said in awe, looking around the room. "Bigger than a regular room."

"I like the look of it," Raymond commented, admiring the urban theme of the room.

"I did it myself," a voice replied from one side of the room.

Dylan jumped when he heard the voice and asked, "Whoa, who said that?"

"That would be my brother," Ice Blaze answered, gesturing toward the shiba inu on the couch.

"Your brother?" the entire group chorused, staring at the two teens with disbelief.

"Do you wanna fill us in on that?" Raymond asked the duo.

"Sure," the shiba inu answered. "But let me introduce myself first. I'm J. As for what happened, we'll try to keep it short." J turned toward Ice Blaze, who took a seat next to J, and asked, "Do you want me to start it first or do you?"

"Why don't you go first?" Ice Blaze answered with a gesture toward his brother.

J nodded and started to rub underneath his muzzle with his right hand, collecting his thoughts in order before explaining the events. Once he figured out a way to begin, he started, "Well, before this whole mess started a couple months ago, I was a normal human being, n' Blaze was a regular white tiger. Summer vacation had started for my friends and I, n' since I had nothin' to do at Paramount Studios or Unown-Aero…"

Ice Blaze covered his mouth with his right hand and coughed, "Yeah right."

J looked at Ice Blaze and said, "I have half a mind to slap those stripes off you." He turned his attention back to the group and continued, "Anyway, I decided to take Blaze for a walk at a park outside of the Resort."

"What resort are you talking about?" Rune asked with curiosity.

"Oh yeah, I failed to mention that I live n' work at Paramount Resort in Japan, but we can get to that later if y'all want," J replied and looked toward Ice Blaze. "You wanna take it from here?"

Ice Blaze nodded and picked up from where J left off. "We arrived at the park and played a few games of fetch. After playin' a few games, we went for a walk through a trail that was in the wooded area of the park. Durin' the walk, I spotted a squirrel n' decided to chase after it, causin' J n' I to stray away from the path. After chasin' the squirrel, J finally caught up with me, n' we tried to find our way back to the path."

"However, we ended up gettin' lost," J added as he shifted into a more comfortable position on the couch.

"As we continued to find the path, I picked up a peculiar scent n' decided to follow the scent, n' we all know that phrase by heart," Ice Blaze continued.

"Curiosity didn't kill you though," Raymond pointed out to the white tiger.

"Yeah, but we ended up gettin' ambushed by a bunch of ninjas," J said as he rested his head on his left hand that was on the left arm of the couch. "A fight broke out, n' both of us were knocked out. I have no idea how we got to Parvo's base though."

"Wait, Parvo was behind this ordeal?" Briggs asked, looking at the two teens.

"Actually, the real culprit was my cousin, Khalil," J answered before going into an explanation. "My cousin is twisted."

"How so?" Dylan asked with concern.

"Well," J started as he shifted his eyes from the left to the right and continued, "He enjoys tormentin' animals n' that is all I'm goin' to say on that."

"Let's continue on with the story," Ice Blaze said, trying to get back on track. "As J said, we had no idea of how we got to Parvo's base. I woke up in cage that gave me cramps in places that should never have 'em."

"I woke up in a cell that has seen better days."

"How did you two become what you are now?" Zudnik asked.

"Well, it was all because of Khalil," Ice Blaze replied with a low growl. "I was sent through a machine…"

"The canomutator," the group said together with disgust in their voices.

Ice Blaze nodded his head and said, "Yeah, that's it. Anyway, but the process was altered by a scientist named Jeremy, who has a very kind heart n' healed my injury."

"I was mutated by some serum that Khalil injected into me that permanently mutated my genetic code," J added with a sad sigh. "So I'm stuck like this for the rest of my life."

Dylan's heart sank when he heard J's situation and walked over to the shiba inu teen and gave him a friendly pat on the back. "I'm really sorry to hear that happen to you, J."

"It's alright," J replied with a soft smile. "It's goin' to take some gettin' use to, but I think I can manage being a canosapien."

The two teenagers continued to tell their tale to the group, and the group asked them questions, while the brothers answered them. As they were talking, Raymond noticed the cast on J's right leg.

"Hey J, what happened to your leg?" Raymond asked, gesturing toward the wounded leg.

"I'm the Urkel of the group," J replied with a laugh. "You see, what had happened was that my family, friends, n' I were workin' on the Pipeline."

"What's the Pipeline?" Zudnik asked with interest.

"It's an underground rollercoaster," J answered and began an explanation of how the Pipeline works and how the portal gate that is being designed by Professor Hubert will be used for the Pipeline to save on steel and shorten the trip. "As to what had happened to earn me this," J said, pointing to the leg cast. "As we were workin' on placin' the track onto the supports, one of the cables that were carryin' a piece of the track snapped. I was standin' underneath it to make sure the track aligned perfectly with the support. As the cable snapped, I jumped out of the way, but my jump was too short. I was able to get my left leg out of the way, but my right leg wasn't so fortunate."

As the group continued to talk, the alarm went off, alerting the Rovers to report to the briefing room. Everyone got up from their spots; Ice Blaze helped J up and retrieved his crutches. Using one of his crutches, J retrieved his laptop carrying case and handed it to his brother. Ice Blaze slipped it over his head, and the bag sat on his left hip. The duo followed everyone else out of J's bedroom and into the hallway. They continued down the hallway until they reached the briefing room.

The briefing room was a large circular room with very high walls. The Road Rovers logo was in the center of the floor. In the upper left quadrant of the room was a balcony. Next to the balcony was a large monitor that was currently displaying the Middle East. In front of the monitor was a large circular table with numerous chairs on one side.

Everyone took a seat around the table and looked at the balcony, where a man in his mid-40s stood. He had long white hair and glowing white eyes due to special effects. He also wore a white suit as well. The man looked at the group sitting at the table.

"Rovers," the man said to the group. "We have a major crisis in the Middle East.

"What is the situation Master?" Briggs asked in an official manner.

"Oil refineries in the Middle East have been targeted for oil drum raids. So far six refineries have been raided, and their oil drums have been taken."

"Do we know who took them?" Dylan asked.

"There were reports from some of the local news stations that claimed some of the workers that were still conscious saw monstrous dog-like creatures stealing the oil drums."

"How 'bout security footage?" Ice Blaze asked.

"We did receive some security footage of them stealing the oil drums. I'll put it up on the main screen."

On the screen was security camera footage from one of the Middle Eastern refineries. The footage revealed the creatures stealing the oil drums and loading the drums into numerous semi trailers. One of them caught the attention of Dylan. The dog looked much like Dylan, though his fur color is a significant shade darker than that of Dylan, and the discolorations are fewer and farther apart. His eyes are bright red. The hair on his head is a mess, and his fur is quite rugged. Both ears are erect, and his tail lacks the light brown end that Dylan has. He is wearing a dark blue tank top with black pants and boots. The dog turned toward the camera and pointed his handgun at the camera and shot it. The screen went black when the shot was fired.

"Well, it seems that General Parvo is at it again Rovers," Master said, turning his attention from the monitor to the group. "I want you to head to the Middle East to stop Parvo and put an end to whatever he is planning."

"We're on it sir," Briggs said as he stood up from his chair and gave a salute.

"Briggs, I want you to lead this mission."

"Sir, yes sir."

"J, due to your injury, I suggest that you stay here to prevent you from worsening your injury."

"I understand, but I can still play a part on the mission by bein' the eyes n' ears," J suggested, looking up at Master.

"That will be fine." Master turned his attention to the group. "Okay Rovers, as I said earlier, head to the Middle East and stop Parvo's operation."

"Okay troops," Briggs said, looking at the group. "We have mission to fulfill. We are…"

"Road Rovers!" everyone cried as the dogs howled and the tiger roared.

"That roar is going to take some getting used to," Master thought as he watched Briggs's team exit the briefing room, leaving him and J alone.

J unzipped his laptop case and pulled out his midnight blue laptop. He flipped the lid up and turned it on. The screen came to life, and after a couple of minutes of booting up, a silver spherical object appeared on the screen. The object had four eyes and a mouth. It took a quick look around before speaking.

"Well, well, well," the face said in mocking tone. "It looks like Urkel needs a little assistance."

"Who said that?" Master asked J.

"Who said that?" the face asked J as it looked around.

"He's behind you, genius," J answered the face.

"Well turn me around genius so that I can see."

J rolled his eyes and turned the laptop around so that it is facing Master. Master looked down and saw the face. The face inspected Master for a moment through the laptop's integrated webcam.

"Let's see, white hair, glowing white eyes, and a blinding white light background," the face said, inspecting Master. "Help wanted. Applicant must be good with computers and an excellent hacker, plus we're equally opportunity employed."

"Shut up," J said to the laptop before turning his attention to Master. "Master, this is Max, which is short for Most Annoyin' eXperiment."

"So, he's an AI," Master observed with interest.

"More like an AA," J corrected before adding, "Artificial Annoyance. He enjoys gettin' on my nerves."

The others walked down the hallway and entered the hangar, which was large and featured numerous aircraft that are lying around. Some of the aircraft took the form of a dog, while others had teeth and other canine features painted onto them. In the middle of the hangar, a large yellow R within a circle is painted on the ground. The group headed toward the Turbo Jet Rover.

Inside the aircraft, Briggs took up the pilot position, and Ice Blaze took up the co-pilot position. Raymond sat at the radar. Rune and Dylan sat in some spare seats. Briggs closed the door to the aircraft and started the engines. The engines roared to life, and the aircraft began to hover.

"This Turbo Jet Rover requestin' permission for takeoff," Ice Blaze spoke into the radio's microphone.

"Permission granted Turbo Jet Rover," J replied through the radio. "Be safe y'all."

"We will. Turbo Jet Rover, over n' out."

The Turbo Jet Rover began to make its ascent toward the New Mexican surface. Once it is at the surface, Briggs guided the aircraft in the westward direction. The aircraft then flew off into the horizon toward the Middle East.

In the briefing room, J was sitting at one of the computer terminals and kept track of the Turbo Jet Rover. Next to J was his laptop, with Max's face on the screen.

"Is it too late to call the morgue?" Max asked J.

"Shut up," J answered the A.I., without looking away from the terminal's monitor.


	3. Caught in the Middle

Chapter 3: Caught in the Middle

Outside of Yemen and inside the commander center of a secret military base was a white male with a muscular built body, wearing a black sleeveless shirt, khaki pants, and black boots. He wore a metallic helmet and had a robotic right arm and left leg. He stood in front of an elevated command console in the two level command center. The command center is a large two level room, with a large monitor at one of the room. On the lower level were numerous computer terminals; while on the upper level is an elevated console where the man is currently standing on.

"I'm pleased that this plan is going smoothly," the man said as he watched a news report on the console.

A white female with long black hair, wearing a red and black jumpsuit with black gloves and boots and sporting a similar metallic helmet approached the man.

"General Parvo," the woman said in a Scottish accent. "The latest shipment of oil has just arrived."

"That's excellent Groomer," Parvo replied as he looked at his second in command. "My plan is falling into place."

"What are we going to do with these oil drums sir?"

"Simple Groomer, we'll be selling these barrels back to the nations, but we'll be selling them at a higher price. This way, we can get rich quick and buy the necessary materials for my three favorite words."

"Complete World Domination?" Groomer asked soothingly as she massaged Parvo's shoulders.

"Oh, exactly," Parvo answered, relaxing from the massage. "A little lower Groomer."

"How low do you want me to go?" she whispered seductively into Parvo's ear as her hands began to move down his spine.

"I'll just leave you two alone in your group therapy session," a gruff voice called out from behind the duo.

The two quickly broke apart and turned around to see the dog that was from the security footage standing at the door. He walked over to the two.

"I see that you've made it back safely with the shipment, Jake," Parvo said, looking at the gruff canine.

"I'm so glad that you've noticed Captain Obvious," Jake muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Groomer questioned Jake, shooting him a quick glare.

"I said 'where is the next oil location you'll be sending us?'"

Parvo shifted his attention back toward the screen on his command console. He brought up a map of the Middle East and began to scour the area for a possible target. He then spotted the excellent spot for the next job.

"I want you and your team to head to Haifa, Israel," Parvo instructed Jake.

"Whatever," Jake replied, rolling his eyes and heading toward the door. As he entered the hallway he muttered, "Those two think they're geniuses, but every time they come up with a plan, those justice hounds come and botch everything up. It won't take long for this one to end up on the S.N.A.F.U. list."

In the command center, Parvo is marking off the refineries that his canomutant soldiers have already ransacked. Once he was finished with the task, he turned his attention toward Groomer.

"Groomer, don't you just love it when plan comes together?"

"Absolutely General," she replied as she rested her head against his muscular left arm.

"Once we drain every single refinery in this area, we'll head northwest for the 'Coup de Grace of the Middle East', the Abadan Refinery in Iran."

"That's wonderful General."

"Groomer, whisper my three favorite words."

"Complete…World…Domination," she whispered into his ear.

"Oooh," Parvo said as he shivered from excitement. "Every time you say those words makes me feel all fuzzy on the inside. Now, let's get back to business shall we?" Parvo shifted his focus back onto the bigger screen at the other end of the command center.

"Raymond, do you see anything on the radar?" Briggs asked as he continued piloting the Turbo Jet Rover over the Gaza Strip.

"There ain't no bleeps, sweeps, or creeps," Raymond replied, looking at the radar monitor.

"The what?" Dylan asked, looking at the black lab with a confused look on his face.

"What?" Rune asked, staring at Raymond.

"And the…" Briggs began, but he was interrupted by Ice Blaze.

"Hey, Mel Brooks ain't directin' this episode," Ice Blaze said, before adding, "Please give it to us straight."

"I said that everything is clear," Raymond clarified to everyone in the jet.

Everyone nodded their heads in understanding and the flight continued on with no interruptions or distractions. A few minutes later, Ice Blaze checked the fuel tank and noticed a red light flashing.

"I have a quick physics to ask you boys n' girls," the white tiger called out, getting everyone's attention. "What happens when an object at a high altitude loses velocity?"

"That's easy, the object…" Rune stopped in mid sentence and her eyes grew wide. "Uh oh."

"What do you mean by 'uh oh'?" Raymond asked, looking at Rune with concerned look on his face.

As if on cue, the engines for the Turbo Jet Rover began to cut off, and the aircraft began tilt into a nosedive.

"Does anyone have any suggestions?" Briggs asked the group as he pulled back on the steering column.

In a faux Indian accent, Ice Blaze replied, "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm planning to scream and cry like a little school girl."

"Good idea Jabituya," Raymond agreed, nodding his head.

"Anyone…else?" Briggs grunted as he continued to pull back.

"Yeah, pray for a miracle," Dylan replied.

"Ice Blaze, I need your help," Briggs called over to the white tiger. "Grab the controls in front of you and pull back."

Ice Blaze did as he was instructed and the two pulled back with all their might, with the exception of Ice Blaze because he didn't want to break the controls. The aircraft began to level out. The Turbo Jet Rover crashed landed onto the sandy surface and skidded to a halt outside of the Gaza Strip. The exterior of the jet was slightly damaged.

"Is everyone okay?" Briggs called out to the group.

"I'm fine," Dylan said as he unfastened his seat belt.

"No broken bones here," Rune said as she checked herself.

"I'm in one piece," Ice Blaze said as he got out of his seat and popped his back.

"Talk about a real head banger," Raymond said as he clutched his head. "I'll be fine; I just got a slight headache."

"I'm fit as a fiddle," Zudnik said as he walked over to the radio and contacted Mission Control. "Mission Control, this Zudnik from the Turbo Jet Rover. Do you copy?"

At Mission Control, J was sitting at a computer terminal, looking at all the locations that have been raided by the canomutants. On the balcony was Master, looking through some files. Everything was quiet within the room. The only noises that could be heard were the occasional rustling of the papers that Master was looking through and the ticking noise of the keyboard at the terminal. Suddenly, a beeping noise echoed throughout the room and earned the attention of the two occupants. Master placed his papers on the balcony console and looked at the flashing red light on the communication system. Next to the flashing red light was a screen that displays the origin of the broadcast and whoever is sending it. On the screen, it shows that the transmission is being sent by Zudnik somewhere outside of the Gaza Strip.

"Zudnik, this is Master, what's the progress of your mission?"

"We were en route to our location when the Turbo Jet Rover ran out of fuel. We made an emergency crash landing outside of the Gaza Strip. We're requesting for some support and quick."

J listened to the conversation that is taking place and had an idea. He grabbed his crutches that were lying on the floor next to his seat, and he slowly stood up and got his balanced. He placed the wooden crutches underneath his arms and began to hop out of the briefing room. He continued down the hallway toward the bedroom area of the facility. He stopped in front of his bedroom and unlocked the door.

Once inside, he closed the door behind him and hopped over to a file cabinet that was located on the left side of his desk. He used his right crutch as a hook to pull his rolling desk chair over to him. He sat down and let his crutches lie against his wooden desk. He looked at the four drawer filing cabinet. He pulled out the second drawer and began to look inside it. He fumbled through numerous papers and blueprints of various theme park attractions that were built at Paramount Resort until he came across one that caught his attention. He pulled out some blueprints to an attraction called Italian Job Stunt Track. He placed the blueprints on his lap and began to thumb through them.

There were blueprints for everything for the attraction from the layout of the attraction to the design of the power plant that is used to supply the power to the massive attraction. J finally found the blueprint he was looking for, which depicted a design for an electric engine for a vehicle, whether it was land vehicle or an aircraft. He rolled up the blueprint and placed it on his desk. He grabbed his crutches and got up from his seat. He placed the crutches underneath his arms again and grabbed the electric engine blueprint. He made his way back over to the door and head back toward the briefing room. Upon his arrival, J noticed that Master was still talking to Zudnik on the radio.

"Master," J called up to Master to get his attention.

Master looked down at J and replied, "Yes, what is it?"

J supported his self on his left crutch and handed Master the blueprints. "I think I might have found a solution to their current situation."

"What is this," Master asked as he looked at the blueprint.

"That is the blueprint to the electric engine that we designed for Italian Job Stunt Track at Paramount Studios," J replied before adding, "It's actually easy to convert any gasoline vehicle into an electric vehicle. I even had my H2 converted, n' it works real well."

"Could this work for the Turbo Jet Rover?" Master questioned as he looked up from the blueprint and down at J.

"Theoretically, it should, but we have to make some modifications to it though."

"What kind of modifications?"

"At Italian Job Stunt Track, there is an embedded wire within the ground that creates an electromagnetic field. Underneath each of the ride vehicles n' helicopter is a plate. This plate picks up electromagnetic pulses from the ground n' converts it into electrical energy, which charges up the battery within the vehicles."

"I see what you mean. Why don't you discuss this with Professor Hubert? He should be in the lab, and he might have a solution to this dilemma." Master handed J the blueprint and turned his attention back to the radio. He picked up the microphone and said, "Zudnik can you hold on tight for a moment? I think we may have a solution to the fuel problem."

"We will," Zudnik replied over the radio.

J hopped out of the room and headed for the lab, which took him a few minutes to reach in his condition. He opened the metallic double doors and went inside. The RRMC Research Lab was a rather large room that is full of lab equipment of various sizes. There are numerous computer terminals and workstations. On top of the workstations were also pieces of paper and some smaller lab equipment. At one of the stations was a bloodhound in a white lab coat, wearing glasses and working on an experiment of some sort. J hopped over to the bloodhound.

"Professor Hubert?" J asked as he tapped on the bloodhound's shoulder. "Can you look at this blueprint n' see if this could be done to the Turbo Jet Rover?"

The bloodhound paused at what he was doing and turned his attention over to the teenaged shiba inu.

"Certainly my boy and by the way…," Professor Hubert said as he took the blueprint from J and sniffed his breath. "Your breath smells like a skunk's family reunion." Professor Hubert began to scrutinize the blueprint. He looked up at J and asked, "What is this blueprint of?"

"It's a blueprint of the electric engine used for our ride vehicles in Italian Job Stunt Track at the Resort," J replied. "I was wonderin' if it could be used for the Turbo Jet Rover through a conversion."

Professor Hubert looked back at the blueprint for a few more minutes and then looked at J and nodded his head.

"Certainly, this is possible. May I hold onto the blueprints so that I can make the necessary parts for the conversion?"

"Sure," J replied with a smile. "There is also a little problem."

"What kind of problem?"

J explained to Professor Hubert the problem, and the bloodhound listened with his right hand on his chin, thinking over what he has been told. Once J finished his explanation, Professor Hubert came up with an idea.

"I think I may have found a way to eliminate that problem. Why don't we take the hybrid route? It will still run on electricity, but the gasoline system can charge up the electric engine so that way the Turbo Jet Rover can receive its charge whenever it needs it."

"That's a great idea," J said, nodding his head in agreement with the bloodhound's idea. He then realized something. "The Turbo Jet Rover ran out of fuel, so we have to refuel once the conversion is complete."

"I understand, and I'll inform whoever delivers the conversion kit about the fuel situation. Anyway, I'm going to use this blueprint as template and work from there. I'll get started on it right away, but it'll take a few days to complete."

"Okay," J answered and turned around to leave the lab, but he stopped and looked at the bloodhound again. "Thanks Professor."

"Anytime, my boy. Anytime."

J exited the lab and headed toward the briefing room once again. He reentered the room and told Master that Professor Hubert is working on a conversion kit for the Turbo Jet Rover. Master nodded his head. J hobbled over to the computer terminal and sat down. He retrieved the radio microphone and spoke into it.

"Zudnik, this is J," J said into the microphone. "I have some good news. Professor Hubert is workin' on a conversion kit for the Turbo Jet Rover. This conversion kit will let the Turbo Jet Rover run on electricity, but it will need gasoline for the charge. We'll be workin' on solution to get the issue resolved. Do you a have paper n' pencil handy?"

Inside the Turbo Jet Rover, Zudnik searched through a cabinet located underneath the communication terminal and found a notebook and pencil. He placed the two objects on top of the terminal replied back to J. J then gave Zudnik some instructions for installing the conversion kit when it gets completed.

"Is there anything else?" Zudnik asked as he finished writing down the instructions.

"The conversion kit will take a few days to complete, so y'all will have to hang loose until it's completed n' have it delivered to you," J replied from the radio. "That's all for right now. I or someone else will keep y'all updated on the situation."

"Roger," Zudnik said. "We're going to check for damage to the Turbo Jet Rover."

"A'ight," J replied before adding after a brief pause, "Master wants you to report back what is damaged."

"Will do," Zudnik said as he ended the transmission and got up from his seat at the communication terminal.

Brigg's group walked over to the exit ramp of the Turbo Jet Rover. They walked down the ramp and into the blazing heat of the Middle East. The group began to thoroughly inspect the aircraft's exterior to see if there was any damage to it. They noticed some minor damages to the engines and flaps, and the tires for the landing gear needed to be replaced. After an extensive inspection, the group headed back onboard the aircraft. Briggs walked over to the communication terminal and spoke into the microphone.

"This is Briggs to Mission Control. We have found some minor damage to the flaps and engines of the Turbo Jet Rover. There is also some damage to the landing gear tires as well. We need some parts and tires so that we can patch this right up."

"Don't worry Briggs," Master's voice came over the radio. "When the main team returns from their mission, I'll send Exile with the conversion kit, replacement parts, and fuel to your location. Be safe everyone."

"We will sir," Briggs replied before cutting out the transmission.

"So, what are going to do now?" Raymond asked, looking at Briggs.

"Until the Turbo Jet Rover is repaired, we need to find a place to stay," Ice Blaze suggested.

"You're right," Briggs nodded. "We'll have to find a decent location for residence." He then looked at his group. "Okay, take any necessities and follow me."

The group did as they were instructed and grabbed any essential items that they would need, such as non spoiled food, drinks, canteens, lanterns, sleeping bags, a first aid kit, and a portable communication radio. Once everything was gathered up, the group disembarked back out into the dry heat of the war torn Gaza Strip.

As they walked through the area, they noticed numerous demolished buildings from countless attacks. Most of the buildings were now rubble and some were still intact. They continued to walk through the deserted area until they heard something falling from the sky. Everyone looked up and noticed a missile heading straight in their direction.

"Run for it!" Dylan cried out as he and everyone else quickly ran ahead to avoid the incoming projectile.

The missile struck the area where the group once stood, kicking up sand and dust in the process. The Rovers found some cover behind some of the wreckage that was lying around. Rune popped her head from behind the wreckage to see if the coast was clear. She signaled to the guys that the coast was clear. Briggs turned his attention to the group again.

"Okay, here's the plan," he said as he pulled out a GPS displaying their current location and the Gaza Strip. He pointed to a location on the screen. "On my signal, we'll head over to this location right here. This is the Yasser Arafat International Airport, and it is located in a neutral area. We can find shelter there until Exile arrives with the parts needed to fix the Turbo Jet Rover. Remember, on my signal, follow me to the airport and keep low. Are we clear?"

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement to the plan. Briggs stuck his head out to check again to see if the area was clear. He used his right hand and waved to signal the rest of the group to move out. Everyone quickly gathered their stuff and got into a crouching position and ran out of the wreckage. Briggs led the group deeper into the Gaza Strip. As they were making their way over to the airport, they were caught in the middle of a cross-fire between two rival groups.

"Get down!" Briggs ordered everyone.

Everyone dropped unto their stomachs and began to crawl their way through the deadly cross-fire. As they crawled through the battlefield, bullets whizzed over their heads. On either side of them mortar shells are going off. One of the shells came close to Ice Blaze and Zudnik.

"That was too close for comfort!" Ice Blaze called back to Zudnik.

"I know, but we have to keep moving forward to safety!" Zudnik shouted over the sounds of the battle.

The Rovers continued their move toward the airport.

In his storage facility at his base, General Parvo stood on the catwalks of the large facility and looked down at his massive inventory of stolen oil drums. As he admired his dirty work, Groomer walked in behind him.

"General, I have some good news for you."

"What is it Groomer?" Parvo asked without looking away from his ever growing collection.

"The Road Rovers' aircraft has crash landed in the Gaza Strip, and the Rovers themselves are caught in a deadly cross-fire between two rival sects."

"Groomer, this is truly a happy day," Parvo replied with a sinister smile creeping on his face. "That civil war in the Gaza Strip will make my plans a lot easier. With those meddling mutts out of the way, no one can stop me." He clutched his mechanical fist tightly and started to laugh until he broke down into a coughing fit. "Lozen…enge Groomer!" He wheezed between coughs.

"Honey or Lemon?" Groomer asked preparing the lozenge dispenser.

"Le...lemo…lemon," He coughed, causing him to double over as the fit got worse with each passing second. "H-hur-hur-hurry!"

She quickly shot a lemon lozenge in Parvo's mouth. Parvo's coughing fit began to ease up, and Parvo finally regained his balance.

"Thank you Groomer. I really needed that," Parvo thanked as he cleared his throat.

"Anytime General," Groomer replied with a soft smile.

At the RRMC Briefing Room, J watched satellite footage of the action occurring on the Gaza Strip. He noticed that the violence between the two sects is beginning to intensify.

"Master," J called out. "We better get those parts done n' fast. The violent level over there is gettin' higher than a session wit' Snoop n' Bobby."


	4. A New Beginning

Chapter 4: A New Beginning

Somewhere in Western Europe was a stately mansion that sits between the borders of two countries: Raxip and Yensid. Within the large mansion, a large group of people congregated in the large grand ballroom. The grand ballroom was extremely spacious with a long oak table in the center of it. In the ceiling were three crystal chandeliers with gold trims. Along the walls were golden curtains. The floor was made of marble and in the center of the floor is the crest of the owner of the mansion, which is a white apple.

The congregation was gathered around the table and consisted of the prime ministers from Raxip and Yensid, the mistress of the mansion, Mrs. Evets, and a group of canosapiens. Four of the canosapiens wore blue jumpsuits with silver armor plating, while one didn't have any type of clothing, and the group consisted of a golden retriever, a border collie, a husky, a sheepdog, and Doberman. The group sat at the table with some sitting on either side of the table, and the mistress sat at the head of the table. On either side of the mistress were the prime ministers: Prime Minister Iger and Prime Minister Lasseter.

The two prime ministers were discussing an agreement to merge into one country. After a few more minutes of discussion, the two prime ministers came to an agreement and signed the document. After the document was signed, everyone got up from their seats.

"I'm glad that we're able to rebuild our relationship," Prime Minister Iger said as he shook hands with Prime Minister Lasseter.

"I agree," Prime Minister Lasseter agreed with a nod. "This merger is truly a landmark for both of our countries."

The female collie walked over to Mrs. Evets and asked, "'ow does it feel to own the largest amount of land in this newly merged country?"

Mrs. Evets replied with a chuckle, "It's wonderful. Now, I don't have to worry about which country I'm a resident in, even though most of my property is sitting in Raxip."

"Why don't we celebrate this momentous occasion with dinner at one of the finest restaurants in Raxip?" Prime Minister Lasseter asked the group.

"I'm game for something to eat," the golden retriever said as his tail wagged in anticipation. "How about the rest of you?"

"That's an abso-bloomin'-lutely wonderful idea," the collie said with a smile.

The Russian husky nodded and said, "Da comrade, I like to stomach my fill."

"Er…right," the golden retriever commented, while scratching the back of his head. "What do you say Blitz?"

"Of course, I want to keep to my figure intact," the Doberman answered as he kissed his right arm, while the husky gave him a disgusted look.

The sheepdog was jumping up and down in eagerness and mumbled something to the golden retriever.

The golden retriever laughed and said, "Hold on Shag, we'll be going in a moment."

The group left the grand ballroom and exited the mansion. In front of the mansion were a limousine and four patrol vehicles, with armed guards inside the patrol vehicles. Everyone boarded the limousine, and once everyone was seated, the caravan pulled out of the drive circle and entered the street, heading toward the capital of Raxip, Oxul.

The trip to Oxul took about an hour. Oxul is the largest city of Raxip, which is known as the most incredibly unique country in the world. The whole city featured numerous skyscrapers that were lively in color. On the west side of the city was the ocean, and the oceanic coast is home to the Stanton Aquarium, which features numerous animal exhibits that range from fish to seagulls. South of the city is the McQueen Raceway, where the famous Radiator Cup is held.

The caravan parked in front of a fancy restaurant in the entertainment district of Oxul. Everyone filed out of the limousine and entered the restaurant. The restaurant's interior was a sight to behold for the five canosapiens. The walls were painted a dark mahogany with cherry wood base boards. Sitting along the walls were numerous booths, and above each of the booths was a gold mini chandelier. Tables were strewn amongst the area, but the center of the restaurant featured marble fountain that is surrounded by some plants. In the upper right hand corner was a grand piano that was sitting on a small stage, and a pianist is currently playing a soft melody to set the mood for the restaurant.

A waiter approached the group and led them to a large table that is in between the marble fountain and grand piano. Everyone picked a seat and sat down, and they picked up a menu that the waiter placed in front of them.

"Welcome to _Chez Remy_," the waiter announced as he pulled out an order pad and pen. "Do you want some appetizers while you decide on what to order?"

Everyone looked at each other before coming to a consensus and nodded their heads to the waiter.

With a nod, the waiter said, "I'll be right back to retrieve your appetizers and take your order."

The waiter left for the swinging double doors that were located near the upper left hand corner of the restaurant. As the group waited for their appetizers, they talked amongst themselves.

"This place is beautiful," the collie said as she looked at the restaurant décor and then turned her attention to the golden retriever. "Don't you think so 'untie?"

"I totally agree, Colleen," Hunter said as he looked at the fountain. "Wouldn't that fountain look good at Mission Control?"

"It would be better if it was in the shape like me," the Doberman said as he flexed his muscles, which earned him a groan from the husky, who shook his head and continued to look at the menu.

A few more minutes passed before the waiter returned with a large tray that contained the appetizers. He set the tray at the end of the table and placed a couple of bowls of rolls. The fresh warm rolls steamed in the bowls as they were placed on the table. The waiter also placed some sauces for dipping the rolls. Everyone took a piece of the warm bread, broke off a piece, dipped it into the sauce, and ate the piece. Satisfactory sounds from the group filled the restaurant, and the waiter smiled as he watched the diner's reactions.

"I'm glad that you enjoy your appetizers," the waiter commented with a hearty laugh as he pulled out the order pad. "So, are you ready to take your orders?"

"I think we are," Prime Minister Lasseter replied with a nod. "Why don't our guests order first?"

The group of canosapiens ordered their food first, with the Prime Ministers of Raxip and Yensid and Mrs. Evets ordering their food after them. The waiter finished writing down the orders and headed toward the kitchen so that the food would be prepared. The group chatted amongst themselves for about fifteen minutes before some servers came out of the kitchen with the food. Each server called out the order to the table, and the diner raised their hand to receive their food. Once everyone received their meal, they said grace and began to dig into their meal.

"Man, this food rocks!" Hunter exclaimed as he took a bite of his well done sirloin steak.

Colleen ate some mashed potatoes, nodded her head in agreement, and said, "I agree, 'unite. This is scrumptious." She looked at the other three canosapiens. "What do you gents think?"

Shag gave an okay sign with his left hand and mumbled his approval. Blitz was too busy eating his meal to pay attention to Colleen, which was a first for the female collie and the male husky.

"Comrade Blitz is pigging with no bottom," the husky said as he watched Blitz continue to wolf down his meal.

With a smile on his face, the waiter spoke, "I'm glad that you all are enjoying your meals. We have the finest rats prepare your meals."

Everyone at the table, with the exception of Prime Minster Lasseter, stopped eating and stared at the waiter with wide eyes.

Mrs. Evets stuck a finger in her ear, twisted the digit, and said, "I must be going deaf, but did you just say that rats prepared our meal?"

"The finest in all of Raxip," the waiter praised with a nod.

Blitz quickly got up from his seat and rushed toward the bathroom, with the sound of gagging following as the door closed. Mrs. Evets blacked out, and her face landed in her food. Colleen jumped out her seat and ran over to check on Mrs. Evets. Exile and Prime Minister Iger were taking turns giving each other the Heimlich maneuver. Hunter just sat there in his seat, staring dumbfounded at his meal for a moment or two before shoving the plate away from him. Shag looked at his food for a moment, shrugged, and went back to eating the food.

Prime Minister Lasseter watched the commotion that was happening around him, looked over to the waiter, and said, "You shouldn't have told them about the rats in the kitchen."

Once the whole restaurant fiasco was over, the canosapiens made their way toward the Oxul Airport to retrieve their aircraft, the Sonic Rover. They boarded the large dog shaped aircraft, and Hunter and Colleen took their positions in the pilot and copilot seats respectively. Once everyone was seated, Hunter started the engines, and Colleen requested permission for takeoff. With permission granted, the Sonic Rover took off and headed west toward the United States.

It took the group a few hours before the Sonic Rover arrived at the cavern entrance of Road Rovers Mission Control. Once the vehicle was over the cavernous opening, the aircraft descended through the opening. The hangar's retractable roof opened up, allowing the dog shaped aircraft to enter and land. After the Sonic Rover touched ground, Hunter shut off the engines and opened the door. The group exited the aircraft and made their way toward the briefing room. Once in the briefing room, the group sat at the table, and Master turned his attention toward them.

"Welcome back Rovers," Master greeted the returning team. "How was the mission to Raxip?"

"It was incredible," Hunter exclaimed with excitement. "I've never seen a place quite like it before in my life."

"They 'ad some wonderful toys and cars there," Colleen explained. "They looked like they could be alive."

"All the buildings must be feathery light because they were all attached to balloonski," the husky commented.

"I didn't like it," Blitz said, with his arms across his chest. "All their restaurants were run by rats."

Shag mumbled something, and Hunter laughed lightly.

"Yeah, we couldn't forget about their aquarium," Hunter said with a hearty laugh.

"It seems like y'all had a great time," J said, with a smile creeping onto his face. "I wish I could've gone. Maybe next time."

"Anyway, how did the talks between Raxip and Yensid go?" Master asked as he tried to get back on track.

"Everything went smooth, Master," Hunter replied as his right hand moved from the left to the right. "They actually decided to merge into one big country, so under the new leadership things should go back to what they used to be.

"I hope so," J said, nodding his head. "I hate to see all that hard work wasted in future endeavors."

"Anyway Rovers," Master addressed the group again. "You're all good dogs. Good, good dogs. You're dismissed."

The Rovers began to leave the room.

"Exile, can you stay here a moment?" Master asked the blue and white furred husky. "I have a favor to ask of you."

"Da Master," Exile said as he stopped and turned toward the man. "What is the favorski?"

"Briggs's group took the Turbo Jet Rover with them to the Gaza Strip, but the Turbo Jet Rover ran out of fuel and is need of some repair," Master answered as he displayed the location of the group and the Turbo Jet Rover on the main display screen. "Professor Hubert is working on a conversion kit that was designed by J that will make the Turbo Jet Rover run on electricity. They are currently caught in a cross-fire, so time is very vital."

"I will do it," Exile said as he turned and headed toward the lab to see if the conversion kit is ready. He arrived at the lab and headed over to where Professor Hubert was working on a part for the conversion kit. "Professor Hubert, do you have the conversion kitski finished?"

"Not yet my boy," Professor Hubert said as he stopped what he was doing and turned in his seat to look at the husky. "It'll probably take a couple of more days to complete. I'll let you know when it is ready."

Exile nodded his head in understanding and left the research lab. He headed back into the briefing room.

"Professor Hubert says that kit will be finishski in day of couple," Exile told Master and J.

"A'ight, I'll pass it on to the others," J said, grabbing the microphone and relaying the information to the group in the Gaza strip.


	5. Patching Things Up

Chapter 5: Patching Things Up

A few days passed, and the violence in the Gaza Strip hasn't let up. It seemed like the violence continued to intensify each day. The group of Rovers tried their best to stay out of the cross-fire between the two rival groups, but they have had a few run-ins with the groups.

At the moment, the group was still staying at dilapidated airport. Every few hours, someone in the group took the position of lookout to ensure that no one from either rival group came over to their area to cause any problem. Dylan was at what used to be the entrance of the airport, keeping an eye out for any potential dangers that could easily make its way over to the group. The rest of the group was in an area that used to be a restaurant.

The medium sized restaurant had the appearance of a ransacked ghost town. Tables and chairs are strewn about the area, with most of them being broken into many pieces. The rotten smell of expired food filled the entire area, making the occupants cover their noses with custom designed masks for anisapiens.

The group cleared an area near the open air entrance of debris so that they could have a make shift campsite. They took some of the undamaged furniture and set up a communication center for emergency purposes. Next to the communication equipment was a battery powered lantern. A fire pit was set up in the center of the campsite. On the right side of the fire pit were some tents that the group used to sleep in for the night. On the left side of the fire pit was a temporary dining area made up of some of the other undamaged furniture. Two tables were put together side by side with some chairs surrounding it.

Sitting at the communication table was Ice Blaze. His head was resting on his left hand, with a bored expression on his face. He had a pencil in his right hand, and he was lazily doodling on a piece of paper. As he continued to doodle, Exile's voice sounded from the radio.

"This is Exile calling from the Sonic Rover," Exile said from the radio. "Is any comrade listening to this?"

Ice Blaze, who was startled from the sudden noise, jumped and dropped his pencil. He quickly grabbed the microphone and replied. "Exile, this is Ice Blaze. I read you loud n' clear. Where are you?"

"I'm heading toward the Turbo Jet Rover," Exile replied as he piloted the aircraft. "I also brought the conversion kitski, replacements parts, and fuel for Turbo Jet Rover. I'll be over there in two shakes of a lamb's jiffy."

"Er…okay," Ice Blaze said with a confused expression on his face from Exile's butchered phrase. "We'll see you then. Ice Blaze, over n' out."

Ice Blaze ended the communication link and got up from his seat. He walked over to where the rest of the group was sitting around the fire pit. Briggs was the first to notice the big cat.

"I just received a transmission from Exile," Ice Blaze told the German Shepherd. "He said that he'll meet us at the Turbo Jet Rover in a few."

"Thanks for the message," Briggs said as he turned to the rest of the group. "Alright everyone, we need to pack up and head back over to the Turbo Jet Rover. Help is on its way over to that location. Once we get everything packed up, someone has to go get Dylan from the lookout area. Let's move out."

Rune and Zudnik took care of taking down the tents and rolling up the sleeping bags. Raymond and Briggs handled the radio equipment. Ice Blaze stored the non-perishable foods in a cooler. Once everything is packed up, the group made their way over to the entrance of the temporary base.

At the lookout area, Dylan was sitting on some debris and watched the ongoing civil war between the two rival groups, shaking his head in sadness and letting out a sad sigh.

"I don't understand why people do these things," he said to himself as he sadly watched a mortar shell strike a building. "I mean, I know that we have our differences in ideas and viewpoints, but why do we have to express our differences through violence? I don't understand."

"I guess there are some things that we are not made to understood," Ice Blaze said as he walked over to the teenaged mutt. "Briggs sent me over here to get you. We're headin' back to the Turbo Jet Rover. Exile will be meetin' us there."

Ice Blaze offered Dylan a hand, who accepted the offer. Ice Blaze helped Dylan up to his feet, and the two teens started on their way back to rejoin the group. Dylan took one last glance at the civil war that was occurring behind them. Ice Blaze took another glance as well and heard Dylan release another sad sigh. The big cat placed a comforting hand on Dylan's shoulder. Dylan looked up to Ice Blaze, who gave him a reassuring smile. Dylan returned the smile and nodded his head. Ice Blaze gently squeezed Dylan's shoulder. The two then headed toward the area where the group was waiting for the two. They finally arrived at the area where the rest of the group was waiting for them.

"Now that we're all here," Briggs said, looking around the group to ensure that he has everyone's attention. "Here's what we're going to do. When the coast is clear…"

"You should say 'if' the coast is clear," Raymond interjected, looking at the cross-fire that was in the foreground.

"Anyway, whenever we get a chance at an opening," Briggs began, ignoring Raymond's comment. "We're going to run toward the Turbo Jet Rover as fast as possible. If they start shooting again, crouch down and keep your heads covered. Are we all clear?"

Briggs looked at everyone and noticed that they all nodded their heads in agreement. Briggs nodded his head and turned his attention to the action in the foreground, waiting for an opportunity to execute the plan.

Outside of the airport, the action was heating up. Bullets flew through the air, creating numerous holes in various rundown buildings. Mortar shells bombarded the entire area, kicking up large amounts of dust in the area and creating a large dust cloud. The sound of gunfire ceased once the dust cloud blocked everyone's vision.

The dust cloud created from the mortar shells gave Briggs an idea. He signaled the others to follow him and stay close to the group. Everyone ran out of the safety of the airport and ran into the dust cloud. After a few seconds of being inside the dust cloud, the dust began to settle down, and everyone's vision began to get clearer. Once it was clear enough, the sounds of gunfire began to resonate throughout the area again. The Rovers crouched and covered the heads as the bullets whizzed over their heads. As they were making their way toward the other end of the massive cross-fire, Ice Blaze cried out in pain. Everyone in the group turned their attention to the white tiger. Ice Blaze was clutching his right shoulder with his left hand and was on his knees. He quickly signaled to the group to continue on with his bloodied left hand, and he got back up and started to run again. The group continued to make their way through the cross-fire until the sounds of bullets flying over their heads began to die down.

"Finally, we're in the clear," Rune said with a sigh of relief as the entire group slowed down to a walk.

"At least we don't have far to go," Zudnik said as he spotted the Turbo Jet Rover in the distance.

Dylan walked next to Ice Blaze, who is still clutching his right shoulder.

"How are you feeling?" Dylan asked the big cat with concern.

"A lil' first aid will do the trick," Ice Blaze said as he took his left hand off the wound to inspect it. "Who is good wit' first aid?"

"Rune can handle that for you," Dylan replied, patting the white tiger's back. "She'll have you patched up in no time."

"Well one thing's for sure," Ice Blaze began with light chuckle. "I won't be called 25 Cent anymore."

Dylan chuckled at the tiger's comment as the group finally arrived at the Turbo Jet Rover. As they were about to enter the aircraft, the sound of engines could be heard in the distance. Raymond rummaged through his pack and found a pair of binoculars and looked into them.

"What do you see?" Briggs asked the black lab.

"I see that the Sonic Rover is heading this way," Raymond replied as he lowered his binoculars.

After a few minutes, the Sonic Rover landed close by the Turbo Jet Rover. The engines to the Sonic Rover were shut off, and the exit ramp lowered. The group walked over to the ramp to meet Exile, who was walking down the platform and carrying part of the conversion kit.

"Greetings comrades," Exile called out to the group.

"It's great to see you Exilo," Zudnik called back to his fellow Russian friend.

"I see that you brought the conversion kit and spare parts," Briggs said, noticing some of the items in Exile's arm.

"That's right comrade Briggs," Exile answered with a nod. "I even brought fuel for Turbo Jet Rover."

"Before we get the rest of the parts," Dylan began. "Why don't we check out Blaze's injury?"

Everyone nodded in agreement and headed toward the Turbo Jet Rover. Once inside, Rune retrieved the first aid kit. She ushered Ice Blaze into a chair so that she could tend to his wound and instructed him to hold still. Exile volunteered to be Rune's assistant during the first aid procedure by handing her the medical supplies that she needs.

She took rubbing alcohol and poured some onto a cotton ball. She applied the cotton ball onto the white tiger's wound. When the cotton ball made contact with the open wound, a stinging sensation surged from the wound, causing Ice Blaze to quickly shut his eyes and release a low growl from the searing pain. Rune continued to clean the wound until all the dry blood was gone from the open wound. She then asked Exile to hand her a scalpel so that she can make the task of removing the bullet that is lodged inside the big cat's shoulder easier by making the wound slightly bigger. Ice Blaze gulped when he saw the scalpel.

"Hold still now," Rune said as calm as she could to prevent the tiger from being more nervous than he already is.

Ice Blaze nodded as he gripped the edges of his seat. He could feel his heart pounding and his breathing speeding up as he watched the blade inch closer to his open wound. He gripped the edges of the seat tighter.

Dylan placed a hand on the tiger's left shoulder and said, "Why don't you close your eyes? This won't take long."

Ice Blaze nodded and closed his eyes. As the blade of the scalpel touched the opening of the wound, the coldness of the blade caused Ice Blaze to instantly suck in and hold his breath. Dylan rubbed the tiger's back in an attempt to calm him down during the procedure. Rune had to make the wound a little bigger so that she could use some tweezers to get the bullet out. Ice Blaze closed his eyes tighter as she made the opening bigger. Rune pulled out the scalpel and called Exile for the tweezers. Exile handed her the tweezers, while trying to avert his eyes from the sight of the procedure that is being done on Ice Blaze. Rune inserted the tweezers into the bigger opening. She prodded through the wound until she found the bullet. She pulled the bloodied bullet out of the wound and placed it on a paper towel.

"There we go," Rune said as she placed the tweezers next to the bullet on the paper towel. "We got a couple more things to do, and you'll be good as new. Exile, can you hand me the antibiotics and stitching kit?"

Ice Blaze nearly fainted when Rune said stitching kit. It took the combined strengths of Briggs, Raymond, Zudnik, and Dylan to keep the white tiger in a sitting position so that Rune could stitch up his wound. Rune pulled out a needle and a suture and began to close the wound. Ice Blaze felt the needle going into his skin and cringed every time it reentered his skin. After a few more passes into the skin, Ice Blaze's wound was finally closed. Rune then wrapped a bandage around the wounded area.

"There you go, all done," Rune said as she patted the big cat's hand.

"Thank you Rune," Ice Blaze said as he tilted to his left and fainted onto the floor.

"You're welcome," Rune said as she watched the white tiger faint. She turned her attention to the blue and white furred husky. "Thank you for your assistance, Exile."

"Anytime comrade," Exile replied before he collapsed onto the floor of the Turbo Jet Rover as well.

"Briggs, what are we going to do now?" Raymond asked, looking at the leader of the group and then at the two unconscious males. "These two look like they just went twelve rounds with Mike Tyson."

"We can get the rest of the conversion kit and the spare parts," Briggs replied as he also looked at the two unconscious Rovers. "We'll leave the heavier stuff to Exile. With Ice Blaze's injury, I don't want him to reopen it by lifting heavy objects."

"I'll wait here to tell them when they wake up," Zudnik suggested as he took a seat by the two males.

"Okay," Briggs nodded his head and followed the rest of the conscious group out of the aircraft.

The Rovers trekked over to the Sonic Rover so that they could retrieve the smaller parts for the conversion kit and the spare parts as well.

Inside the Turbo Jet Rover, Zudnik was watching to two unconscious males. Suddenly, he heard a groan coming from one of the bodies. Exile's body began to show signs of movement. Exile groaned again as he attempted to get up onto his feet. He opened his eyes, but his vision was still a bit blurry. He blinked a few more times until his vision finally became clear. He finally regained his sense of balance and stood up straight. He stretched for a moment before turning his attention toward Zudnik.

"Comrade Zudnik, where is everyone?"

"They're at the Sonic Rover unloading the smaller conversion kit parts and the replacement parts," Zudnik replied as he got up from his seat. "I stayed behind so that I could tell you. I have to wait here until comrade Blaze wakes up."

"Dokie okie comrade," Exile said as he exited the Turbo Jet Rover to help the others.

Zudnik sat back down, but it was only for a brief moment. Ice Blaze started to regain consciousness. His left hand cradled his head as he got up into a sitting position. He shook his head a bit before his sense of balance finally returned. He looked around the aircraft and noticed Zudnik getting up from his seat. Zudnik walked over to the white tiger and helped him up to his feet.

"Thanks Zudnik," Ice Blaze thanked the grey furred husky.

"You're welcome," Zudnik replied to the tiger's gratitude. "Briggs doesn't want you to help unload the heavier parts because of a possibility you might reopen your wound."

"That's okay," Ice Blaze answered as he followed out of the husky out of the Turbo Jet Rover. "I didn't wanna risk it reopening again anyway."

The duo rejoined the group as they continued to unload the Sonic Rover. Zudnik and Ice Blaze helped the others by carrying the lighter stuff. Exile got all of the heavier parts out of the Sonic Rover. They moved everything over to the Turbo Jet Rover so that they could begin work on the repairs and engine conversion.


	6. Striking It Rich

Chapter 6: Striking It Rich

Outside of the Haifa Refinery in Haifa, Israel, Jake had a pair of binoculars up to his face, scouting the area around the Haifa Refinery. The refinery consisted of towering smoke stacks, numerous silos used for storing the oil before being filled into the drums, and a storage facility for oil drums. Jake was with a large group of canomutants. Behind the canomutants was a large convoy of semis. Through his binoculars, Jake spotted another group of canomutants that he sent earlier.

The second group of canomutants was approaching the perimeter fence that surrounds the entire refinery. The large group dispersed into smaller groups. They surrounded the perimeter and began to set up charges on the perimeter fence. Once they set up the charges and armed them, the group ran away from the live charges as they detonated, destroying the perimeter fence in the process.

"Those good for nothings actually did something right for once," Jake muttered under his breath as he lowered his binoculars. He turned around to look at the large congregation of canomutants. "Alright you poor excuses of a low life, let's move out and get this mess over with."

The canomutants saluted and boarded numerous semis. Once everyone was onboard a vehicle, the engines roared to life as slowly began to move. The convoy made its way toward the breached refinery. The demolition group was already inside the property and subduing anyone that was on the property.

At the RRMC Briefing Room, Master received an alert from one of the Road Rover Satellite System's orbiting satellites.

"J, can you bring up the alert on the main screen?" Master asked the teenaged shiba inu that was sitting at the computer terminal.

J nodded his head in compliance as he typed on the keyboard to access the alert. On the main screen, the alert displayed a satellite view of Haifa, Israel. J zoomed in on the location of the alert, and the zoomed in footage revealed numerous Gen-Par Inc. semis parked outside of the storage facility at Haifa Refinery. J grabbed the microphone to the radio and spoke into it.

"This is J from Mission Control callin' Turbo Jet Rover."

Outside of the Gaza Strip, the conversion for the already refueled Turbo Jet Rover is finally completed, and work for the repairs is nearly finished. Inside the Turbo Jet Rover, Briggs was sitting in the pilot's seat and watching the charge gauge for the newly converted electric engines until J's voice echoed throughout the aircraft. Briggs got up from his seat and walked over to the communication terminal. He picked up the microphone and spoke into it.

"This is Briggs, what is going on?"

To the tune of The Ballad of Jed Clampett, J replied over the radio, "Well, the Jed Clampett Gang has struck black gold at the Haifa Refinery in Haifa, Israel, so you need to get your tails right over there before they take more of that bubbling crude."

"We'll be on our way once the repairs are completed. Briggs, over and out."

Briggs ended the transmission and got up from his seat at the communication terminal. He exited the aircraft and informed the others of the situation in Haifa.

"The good news is that the repairs are finished," Raymond said as he closed the toolbox.

"Alright, everyone," Briggs said to his group. "We need to head over to Haifa and stop Parvo's soldiers from stealing those oil drums."

"I'm going to head backski to Mission Control," Exile said as he made his way toward the Sonic Rover's ramp.

"We'll see you later then," Zudnik called to Exile.

Briggs's group returned to the Turbo Jet Rover and took their positions. Once the door to the Turbo Jet Rover closed, Briggs started the newly converted engines. The engines began to roar to life, and the aircraft began to hover.

"Hallelujah! It works!" Ice Blaze cried out with his hands shaking in the air, but he quickly dropped them when a sharp pain surged through his wounded shoulder. "Okay, I won't do that again."

The Sonic Rover's engines came to life and began its ascent too. Once at their desired altitudes, both aircraft turned in opposite directions and headed toward their destinations.

Outside of the Haifa Refinery Storage Facility, some of the canomutants knocked out some of the faculty that worked at the facility, much to Jake's disappointment.

"I wanted to see them six feet under," he muttered to himself as he entered the storage facility with the other canomutants.

The inside of the storage facility was a large warehouse, with catwalks near the ceiling. The entire warehouse was full of oil drums.

Outside of the storage facility, some semis backed up into the loading docks so that the canomutants can load the drums into the trailers. Once the semis were at the loading dock, the drivers got out of their vehicles and opened the doors to the trailers.

On the loading docks were several canomutants, forming an assembly line. The canomutants inside the storage facility passed the drums to another mutant down the line until it reached the trailer, where it would be stored and then transported to Parvo's base.

Jake oversaw the whole oil drum assembly line until his communicator went off. He let out a groan and reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his communicator.

"Yeah, what is it?" Jake said in a not too pleasant tone as he continued to watch the canomutants load the oil drums into the semis.

"How's the progress of loading the oil drums?" Groomer's voice rang from the communicator.

Jake pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against and walked over to one of the garage style doors. He took a quick look inside to see how the transfer was progressing and saw that the group was halfway through the inventory.

"We're halfway there," Jake answered Groomer's query.

"Well, you better hurry up," Groomer ordered Jake. "Those miserable mongrels are on their way over to your location."

Jake cursed underneath his breath and said to Groomer, "Alright." He ended the transmission and turned his attention to the canomutants. "Listen up you brain dead cretins, the Rovers will be here to crash our little raid, so you better hurry up. If you don't, my thirst for blood will finally be quenched. You got that!"

The canomutants saluted and quickly picked up the pace of loading the drums into the numerous semis on the loading dock. Jake just rolled his eyes and stalked off toward his spot so that he could keep an eye on the transfer and the now terrified canomutants.

About a half a mile from the Haifa Refinery, the Turbo Jet Rover landed, and the group got out of the aircraft. They stood under the shade of one of the wings. Zudnik had a pair of binoculars up to his face and surveyed the area.

"Zudnik, what do you see?" Briggs asked the husky.

"I see a lot of Gen-Par Inc. semis at the loading docks, and there are numerous canomutants transferring the oil drums from the warehouse and loading them into the semis. The perimeter fence is totaled," Zudnik reported as he continued to survey the situation at the refinery.

"Are there any patrolling canomutants?"

"None that I can see," Zudnik replied as he lowered the binoculars.

"What's the plan?" Rune asked as she turned her attention from the refinery and at Briggs.

"Well, the main objective is to stop the canomutants from finishing the transfer of the oil drums," Briggs said as he looked toward the refinery. After a minute, he came up with a plan. He spotted a stick near his foot and picked it up. "This is what we'll do." He began to draw a rough diagram of the refinery in the sand. "All of us will go down to the refinery. Once there, we will split up into two groups. The first group will see if there is a back way into the warehouse, while the other group remains in a hiding spot. The survey team will consist of Dylan, Raymond, and Ice Blaze. Let us know if you find anything. Everyone clear on that?" He looked at everyone as they nodded their heads. "Alright team, let's move out."

Briggs led the group out into the scorching heat. It took them five minutes to arrive at a decent hiding spot, which was behind some large rocks that were conveniently close to the refinery. Once at the hiding spot, Briggs signaled the survey team to begin their part of the plan.

The survey team, which was led by Ice Blaze, cautiously made their way onto the breached property. Ice Blaze led the group toward the silos that were near the loading docks. He signaled the group to hold their position. He inched into view to assess the situation. There were no other hiding spots between the silos and the storage warehouse. Ice Blaze noticed that the canomutants were still busy loading the oil drums into the semis, and he noticed that Jake has his back turned away from the survey team. Ice Blaze hid back behind the silo and looked at Raymond and Dylan.

"This is goin' to be a long shot," Ice Blaze told the two canosapiens. "There is no hidin' spot from here to the back of the warehouse, so we'll have to floor it n' try not get seen." He received nods from the other two members within his group. "Okay, on the count of three. One…two…three."

The survey team raced across the open area toward the back of the warehouse, hoping that they don't get spotted. The group reached the other side of the storage warehouse without being spotted by Jake or the other canomutants. On the other side of the warehouse was a regular size back door that leads inside the building and into the main storage area.

Dylan grabbed a communicator and said, "Briggs, this is Dylan. We've found a back door into the warehouse."

"Great work Dylan," Briggs's voice called from the communicator. "Hold your position; we'll be over there in a few minutes."

"Okay, see you in a few," Dylan replied before cutting off the transmission and putting up the communicator. He walked over to Ice Blaze to check on him. "Blaze, how are you feeling?"

"My shoulder is still sore, but I can manage," Ice Blaze replied as he leaned against the warehouse wall.

Dylan followed the white tiger's example and leaned against the wall too. Raymond decided to be lookout and walked over to the corner to make sure that the rest of group makes it to their location before the canomutants spot them.

Briggs, Rune, and Zudnik made their way toward the refinery. They rushed past the demolished perimeter fence and were on their way toward the back of the warehouse when a shot was fired in their direction. They stopped in their tracks and quickly turned their heads in the direction of the shot, and they saw Jake, who was lowering his 9 mm handgun and was giving them a sadistic smile.

"It seems like I get to quench my thirst for blood after all," Jake laughed as he pulled out another clip and inserted it into the handgun. Once the clip was inserted, he lifted it back up and pointed it toward the group. "So, which one of you will be the first to make blood angels?" He tapped the barrel of the handgun toward his muzzle as if he was thinking before he flashed his teeth into a sinister smile. "Well, since I'm such a gentleman," he began as he lowered his gun and aimed it at Rune. "How about ladies first?"

Right before Jake pulled the trigger, Zudnik struck the gruffer mutt in the muzzle, causing Jake to lose his balance and fire the handgun into the air. This caught the attention of the other canomutants. The canomutant drivers went over to where the action was, while the others continued to load the oil drums into the semis.

On the other side of the facility, the survey group heard the sound of the gun shots and hurried toward the now ensuing brawl that is taking place outside of the warehouse.

At the fight that was happening outside of the warehouse, Briggs's group was outnumbered by all the canomutants. Rune used her telekinetic powers to conjure up mental images for her opponents. Rune's group of canomutants quickly turned around and high tailed it out of the area, with their tail between their legs and whimpering.

"Rune, what did you do to them?" Zudnik called over to the female beagle as he punched a canomutant in the gut.

"Let's just say that dogs and thermometers don't mix," Rune replied with a giggle as she spotted the survey team heading their way. "It looks like help has just arrived."

Dylan, Raymond, and Ice Blaze charged onto the scene. Briggs was struggling with one of the canomutants until Ice Blaze jump kicked the canomutant in his left side, causing the canomutant to release his grip from Briggs's hands and fall to the ground. Another canomutant grabbed Ice Blaze from behind, but he received a major headache from the white tiger's reverse head butt. The canomutant released his grasp and grabbed his broken nose, but he didn't realize that Ice Blaze was about to perform a sweep kick to him. As Ice Blaze sweep kicked the canomutant, the canomutant yelped and fell onto his back.

Raymond was taunting some of the canoblaster wielding canomutants. Every time they fired a shot, he jumped out of the way.

"Hey, Dick Cheney can shoot better than you, and he's old," Raymond taunted as one of the canomutants fired at him but missed as Raymond jumped out of the way. He ducked as another blast soared over his head. "You almost had me there, but sadly this isn't horseshoes." Another shot was fired, and he rolled away from the blast. "Too bad this isn't a videogame. You need all the help you can get."

He quickly came up with an idea and ran in between two of the canomutants and called out to them. He jumped and a waved to get the canomutants' attention.

"Hey, you're doing it wrong! You're supposed to shoot me!"

The two canomutants trained their weapons at the jumping black Labrador and fired. Raymond dropped to the ground as the two blasts passed each other and knocked the two canomutants down to the ground. The two beasts groaned in pain from the blast.

"Hey, I got good news and bad news," Raymond said to the two canomutants as he got up from the ground and dusted himself off. "The bad news is that there are no doctors in the area, but the good news is that you still have your …" He took a quick look at the two canomutants and saw and smelled charred fur. "Uh…never mind."

A canomutant attempted to punch Zudnik, but the grey furred husky grabbed the canomutant's right arm and swung him into some of the other canomutants, creating a domino effect and forming a massive dog pile. Another canomutant came up from behind Zudnik. Zudnik felt the presence of the approaching canomutant and quickly turned around. He kicked the canomutant in the chest, causing the canomutant to stagger and head toward Raymond and Dylan's direction.

Raymond and Dylan spotted the staggering creature and decided to team up. Raymond grabbed Dylan's arms and swung Dylan into the lumbering beast. Dylan kicked the canomutant in the head, and the canomutant fell onto the ground unconscious. Raymond lowered Dylan onto the ground and released his hold on Dylan. Behind Raymond was another canomutant, but Dylan caught the sight of the canomutant. He quickly drew out a laser pistol and fired it at the canomutant in the leg. The canomutant howled in pain as he dropped to the ground and clutched his leg. Raymond rushed over to the down canomutant and knocked him unconscious with a sharp blow to the head.

Briggs and Ice Blaze teamed up and were surrounded by a large group of canomutants. The canomutants charged at the two Rovers, but Briggs and Ice Blaze were ready for them as they dodged punches and kicks from the horde of brutes. One of the mutants pulled out a knife and started to swing it at Ice Blaze. Ice Blaze backed up and dodged each advance the knife wielding brute made to him. However, Ice Blaze didn't move fast enough to evade the next swing as the blade reopened the tiger's shoulder wound. Ice Blaze cried out in pain, dropped to his knees, and clutched his reopened wound. Briggs heard Ice Blaze's cry and started to go on the offensive. He knocked down two canomutants with a swift kick to their chests and ran over to Ice Blaze.

"I've had enough of this," Jake said as he pulled out a gas grenade and threw it out into the brawl. The grenade detonated and released a thick smoke screen, blinding everyone. Jake called out to the fighting canomutants that were in the thick smoke screen. "We got what we came for you simple minded rejects. Scrape up the mess and let's get out of here."

The canomutants who were in the smoke screen fumbled around in the thick shroud, trying to find their fallen comrades. They gathered up the unconscious bodies and ran out of the thick cloud toward the semis. The Rovers were still within the smoke screen, coughing and trying to see through the hazy cloud. Even though they couldn't see, they could hear the roaring sounds of semis starting up and pulling away from the loading docks. The canomutants made their escape with the oil drums, leaving the entire facility bare.

The smoke screen began to dissipate. The Rovers' vision was starting to regain focus, and once they could see clearly, they noticed that the entire refinery is barren, except for the workers who were unconscious. They contacted the paramedics, who arrived at the scene in just a few minutes. After the paramedics have arrived to check on the victims, the Rovers trekked back toward the Turbo Jet Rover. Along the way, Rune noticed that Ice Blaze was once again clutching the wound and saw blood trickling in between the white tiger's fingers, staining his white fur into red.

"What happened to you Blaze?" Rune asked the wounded white tiger.

"One of the canomutants had the nerve to stab me in my wounded shoulder," Ice Blaze replied as he looked at his wounded shoulder before returning his gaze at the female beagle. "You don't mind patchin' me up again do you?"

"Of course not," she replied with a soft smile. "We better hurry before it gets infected."

Back on the Turbo Jet Rover, Dylan walked over to the communication station, while Rune led Ice Blaze back to the chair so that she can stitch his wound back up. Dylan contacted Road Rover Mission Control.

"Mission Control, this is Dylan from the Turbo Jet Rover," Dylan spoke through the microphone. "Do you copy?"

"Yes Dylan, we read you loud and clear," Master replied to the transmission. "What's the update on your mission?"

Dylan released a sigh and answered, "Not good. My brother and the other canomutants have taken the oil drums from Haifa Refinery. However, there were no casualties. All of the employees were mostly knocked unconscious." A scream was heard in the background, and Dylan quickly turned around toward the source of the scream. The owner of the scream was Ice Blaze.

"Dylan, what was that?" Master asked as heard he the scream through the radio.

"It was Blaze. Rune is stitching him back up again. One of the canomutants stabbed Blaze's wounded shoulder and reopened his wound. What should we do now sir?"

In the briefing room, Master stood on the elevated platform in front of the communication terminal that was conveniently located on the platform.

"For right now, I want you all to be on the lookout for any suspicious activity. Please be careful, we don't know where Parvo is, or where he is going to strike next. We'll keep you updated when we find something."

"Okay, Master. We'll report to you if we find anything," Dylan replied before cutting of the transmission.

Once the link was disconnected, Master placed his right hand underneath his chin and began to think.

"I wonder where Parvo is holding all those stolen oil drums," Master wondered out loud.

"Well, it's obviously somewhere in the Middle East," Max called from his spot on the lower level, where J was working at one of the computer terminals with the laptop beside him.

"True, but it could be anywhere in the Middle East," J corrected the A.I. as he turned his attention toward Max.

"I agree with J," Master said with a nod. "We need to find Parvo and the stolen oil drums. Can you two search throughout the Middle East and find them?"

"No problem," J said as he and Max started their search for Parvo's hidden base.

In his command center outside of Yemen, Parvo stood at his console, playing with his moustache with his right hand. He was thinking about a new location for his base of operations. Groomer entered the command center and approached Parvo.

"General," she called out to Parvo. "Jake and the other canomutants have returned with the oil drums from the Haifa Refinery."

"That's excellent Groomer," Parvo said with a nod of his head as he brought up a map of the Middle East on the giant screen and began to study it. "But we need to move to a new location because Shepherd's pets will be hot on our tail if we stay here."

"Where should we move to?" Groomer asked as she moved to Parvo's side to study the map as well.

"We have to move to a location where it will be difficult for the Rovers to find us," Parvo answered as he continued to scan the map before a smile crept onto his face. "And I have the perfect location." He turned toward Groomer. "Tell everyone to pack up everything because we're moving out and moving on up."

"Aye sir," Groomer saluted and left the room to deliver the orders.

"Let's see if those bothersome Rovers can find me now," Parvo grinned as he rubbed his hands together in earnest.


	7. X Marks the Spot

Chapter 7: X Marks the Spot

In the Road Rover Mission Control Briefing Room, J and Max continued their search at finding Parvo's hidden base. The duo had been going at the search for four and a half hours, but they had no luck in finding the whereabouts of Parvo or his base. The hours of searching was starting to take its toll on J as he shook his head to stay awake and alert. J stifled a yawn with the back of his right hand as he continued to stare intently at the computer screen in front of him. Master walked out from the door that sits behind his podium on the elevated platform and moved toward the edge of the platform to check up on J.

"Any luck at finding Parvo's base?" Master asked the drained teen.

J covered his mouth again as he yawned before he replied, "None whatsoever. I've been searchin' throughout the area, n' I'm comin' up wit' nothin'." His head dropped onto the terminal, and he then lifted his head and faced Master. "I don't know how much longer I can do this before I collapse from exhaustion."

"Well look no further because I just found the idiot's location," Max chirped as he displayed the location on the screen with a red circle. "His base is located a few miles outside of Yemen in the middle of nowhere."

"Now that is straight up stupid n' cliché," J said as he lifted his head up from the terminal. "What we have here is a genius at work folks. Parvo basically planted a giant 'hit me' sign in the middle of nowhere."

"I will notify Briggs and the others," Master said as he made his way over to the communications terminal on his platform and contacted Briggs's group. "Turbo Jet Rover, this is Mission Control. Do you copy?"

In the Turbo Jet Rover that is still sitting outside of the Haifa Refinery, Rune sat at the communications station and picked up the microphone when she heard Master's voice from the radio.

"Mission Control, this is Rune. What's the situation?"

"We may have found the location of Parvo's hidden base," Master answered through the radio. "His base is located a few miles outside of Yemen. Please be careful out there Rovers."

"We will sir," Rune said before she terminated the transmission link with Mission Control. She turned in her seat and faced the group. "We finally got the location of Parvo's base."

"Excellent," Briggs said as he and Ice Blaze made their way toward the pilot and co-pilot seats. "Let's move out!"

"Yeah, Parvo's five finger discount has just expired," Raymond said as he punched his right fist into his left hand.

At the controls for the aircraft, Briggs engaged the engines and applied some power to the engines. The engines roared to life, and the aircraft began to slowly lift off the ground. Briggs increased the engines' power. The Turbo Jet Rover continued to gain altitude for a few more seconds before reaching its desired height. Briggs rotated the aircraft in the direction of Yemen and flew the aircraft toward their next destination.

The Turbo Jet Rover arrived at its destination a few hours later. Parvo's base was deserted on the outside. There were no canomutant soldiers at the guard towers or patrolling the premises. The Turbo Jet Rover landed a few yards from the base, and the exit ramp lowered, allowing the Rovers to exit the aircraft. They walked over to the vacant facility and entered through the open gates.

"I don't like this one bit," Zudnik said as he looked around the area for sign of life. "This is too quiet for my taste."

"I know," Briggs nodded his head as he scanned the area. "There's no trace of life here. Let's split up and see if there are any clues to what happened." He turned his attention toward the rest of the group. "Rune, Ice Blaze, and Dylan will stay out here and search for any clues, while Raymond and Zudnik come with me inside the facility to sniff out clues. Are there any questions?" Everyone shook their heads, and Briggs nodded his head. "Alright troops, let's move out."

The group of six separated into two smaller groups of three and went their separate ways. Rune's group went separate directions so that they could cover more ground. Rune covered the left side of the complex; Dylan covered the right side of the complex; Ice Blaze covered the back side of the complex. Inside the facility, Briggs's group also went their separate ways to cover more ground. Briggs took the back part of the facility, which contained the command center and labs. Raymond searched the right side of the facility that contained the storage facility and the loading docks. Zudnik took the left side, which contained the barracks and hangar.

After thoroughly searching throughout the base, the Rovers regrouped near the entrance of empty base. They reported back to Briggs on their search. Each of the Rovers didn't find any clue on the whereabouts of Parvo or the stolen oil drums. The Rovers left the base and made their way toward the Turbo Jet Rover. Briggs walked over to the communication station and contacted Road Rover Mission Control.

At RRMC's briefing room, Hunter was sitting at the computer terminal and watching a news report about the rising cost of oil prices on one of the monitors until he heard Briggs's voice through the radio. Hunter rolled his chair over to the communication station and picked up the microphone and spoke into it.

"This is Hunter. Did you find anything at Parvo's base?" Hunter asked as he continued to watch the news report.

"Unfortunately, we found nothing here at the base," Briggs replied. "The whole base is completely empty. He must have moved his base of operations somewhere else."

"Bummer, well keep an eye out for anything that is suspicious and report back to mission control if you find something. We'll keep you inform if we find anything," Hunter replied.

"Roger that Hunter," Briggs said as he terminated the communication link to mission control.

Exile and J entered the briefing room. The husky was supporting the teen by placing the teen's left arm around his neck. Exile guided J over to the computer terminal and released his hold on the teen. J placed his left hand on the terminal to support himself so that Exile can roll a chair over to the crippled teen. J sat down in the chair once Exile rolled it over to J's location. J took off the laptop carrying bag that hung off his left side of his body and took the computer out of the bag and placed it onto the terminal. He turned on the computer and looked over to Hunter.

"Hey Hunter, have you heard anything from the others?"

"Briggs just reported a moment ago and said that Parvo's base is empty, so he must have moved his base to a new location," Hunter answered the teen's question.

"Fudge," J said, snapping his fingers. "He knows that we're huntin' him down now, so he's going to make it harder for us to find him." He ran his left hand through his rugged fur on his head and released a sigh. "He's not as stupid as I thought he was. Well, it looks like I'm going to have another sleepless night."

"How about I help you with the searchski comrade?" Exile asked as he rolled another chair over to the computer terminal. "That way the search would be cake easy."

J just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Thanks for the assistance, Exile."

"Anytime comrade J," Exile accepted with a smile.

"Well, I'm going to leave you two at that," Hunter said as he left the briefing room. He stopped at the door and looked at the two males. "If you need anything just holler."

The two males nodded their heads in acknowledgement and turned their attention toward the monitors as they began their search for Parvo's new location.

It was evening in Yemen, Israel, and the Rovers decided to head toward Yemen so that they could get some rest and figure out what to do next. The group was currently staying in a hotel within the city. The hotel room they were staying in was large enough to accompany all six Rovers. There were two king size beds against the right wall, and an oak bedside table in between the two beds. A brass lamp, a digital alarm clock, and a phone sat on top of the bedside table. Directly in front of the beds was an oak dresser, and a television sat on top of the oak dresser. On the left side of the beds were two arm chairs and an oak table in between them.

Rune and Zudnik sat on the bed that was closest to the two arm chairs. Dylan and Briggs sat in the arm chairs, while Raymond and Ice Blaze sat Indian style on the floor. The group was discussing the mission.

"What do we know so far about this mission?" Briggs asked the group.

"For starters, we know that Parvo is striking it rich by stealing oil drums from Middle Eastern oil refineries, causing the oil prices to get outta hand," Raymond stated.

"We also know that Parvo was residin' outside of Yemen," Ice Blaze added.

"Yeah, but he knows that we're looking for him and the oil, so he had to move his operations to a new location," Zudnik continued.

"The question is where the new location is," Dylan said as he placed his right underneath his muzzle and began to think.

"If only there was more information on this situation," Rune thought out loud.

"Maybe there is," Zudnik said as everyone turned their attention toward the grey furred husky. "What if those thefts weren't random? There might be a pattern of some sort."

"So, if we find this pattern, then there might be a chance that we may find Parvo and the stolen oil drums," Briggs said as he followed Zudnik's theory.

"Exactly," Zudnik said with a nod.

Raymond got up from his seat and grabbed the portable radio. He then contacted mission control.

"Mission Control, this is Raymond. Do you copy?"

"What is it comrade?" Exile replied through the radio.

"Zudnik has a theory that needs to be tested," Raymond said into the microphone. "We need the locations and dates of the thefts."

In the briefing room, J and Exile were still sitting at the computer terminal. After hearing the request, Max's face appeared on the screen.

"Today is your lucky day gentlemen," Max said as the laptop screen formed a split screen that displayed a list of the ransacked refineries location and dates.

The provided list on the screen revealed:

Marib Refinery (Yemen) – 7/9/07

Aden Refinery (Yemen) – 7/1/07

Basrah Refinery (Iraq) – 6/23/07

Daurah Refinery (Iraq) – 6/25/07

Kirkuk Refinery (Iraq) – 6/6/07

Baiji Salahedden Refinery (Iraq) – 6/17/07

Baiji North Refinery (Iraq) – 7/17/07

Khanaqin/Alwand Refinery (Iraq) – 6/20/07

Samawah Refinery (Iraq) – 7/5/07

Haditha Refinery (Iraq) – 6/10/07

Muftiah Refinery (Iraq) – 6/2/07

Gaiyarah Refinery (Iraq) – 7/23/07

Haifa Refinery (Israel) – 7/27/07

Ashdod Refinery (Israel) – 7/25/07

Exile and J looked at the list and shifted their glances toward the map on the screen. They plotted out the locations and noticed a pattern.

"It seems that evil man Parvo is working his way up because he's been stealing the oil from the southern tip of the Middle East," Exile said as he spoke into the microphone.

"Wit' the exception of Israel, n' I noticed that the thefts are conducted in a random fashion," J added as he looked at the map. "Well, it looks like chrome dome is on his way to being inducted into the Genius Hall of Fame."

"He must be heading northski," Exile continued. "But I don't know where he'll be striking at or where he'll be hiding."

"It seems like it's time for me to guide some lost souls to the light," Max quipped as he took over the laptop's screen. "Parvo may be in a more populated area. I don't think he's that gifted into pulling the same stunt twice."

"I hate to agree wit' the digital annoyance, but he's got a point," J said, nodding his head in agreement with the artificial intelligence.

In the hotel room, the group listened to the transmission from mission control. Briggs got up from his seat and moved over to the radio. Raymond handed the microphone to the German Shepherd. Briggs spoke into the microphone.

"Here's an idea, since Parvo isn't going to be pulling the same move twice, why not search for him in populated areas?"

"We'll get right on it comrade," Exile replied as he disconnected the link between them.

"Well, now we know that these thefts are not completely random," Dylan said, shifting in his seat.

"We also know that he is heading in a certain direction too," Rune added before continuing, "But we don't know where his new base is located though."

"Hopefully we'll have our answer soon enough," Ice Blaze said as a yawn escaped the white tiger's mouth. He stood up and stretched his left arm. "I don't know 'bout the rest of y'all, but all this action is takin' its toll on me."

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement and prepared to get some sleep. Rune had one of the beds to herself. Since Ice Blaze had an injury, he would get the other bed. He also shared the bed with Dylan. Briggs and Zudnik called the arm chairs. Raymond was the unfortunate male to sleep on the floor. Once everyone was situated, the lights were shut off, and everyone slowly drifted off to sleep.


	8. The Coup de Grace

Chapter 8: The Coup de Grace

Parvo stood at the elevated command console in the command center of his new base in Iran. He had a smile on his face as he was impressed with how well his plan was going. He had stolen most of the oil in the Middle East. Even though the Rovers are sniffing him out, he has the upper hand advantage on them, since he relocated to new area, and his new base would be hard to find. He pushed a button on the console and summoned Jake into the command center. The gruff looking mutt entered the room and walked over to the man.

"What do you want now?" Jake asked with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

Beginning to get annoyed with Jake's attitude, Parvo asked, "Would it kill you to change your attitude?"

"Yes it would," Jake replied as he cross his arms. "Let's cut to the chase already. My patience is wearing thin."

"It's time to set our sights on the big prize," Parvo said as he displayed the Abadan Refinery on the monitor that was located across the room. "The Coup de Grace of the Middle East. The…"

"My fur is going to be grey if you don't hurry up you long winded air bag," Jake interjected.

"I want you to take some of the canomutants and steal the oil from the Abadan Refinery."

"Whatever floats your boat," Jake said as he turned around and left the room.

Groomer walked over from one of the stations that was in the command room and approached Parvo.

"General, do you think Jake needs one of those collars like the others?" Groomer asked Parvo.

"No, he's manageable unlike them," Parvo replied as he looked at his robotic limbs and flexed his robotic arm. "However, I do have a feeling that one day they are going to be unleashed out into the world, but it would be over my dead body when they see the light of day ever again."

In the barracks, Jake gathered as many canomutants that he could round up in such short notice. He told them their destination and ordered them to move out. The canomutants saluted and rushed out of the barracks toward the hangar. The majority of the canomutants boarded the semi trailers, while the others got into the tractors. The sound of engines coming to life filled the entire hangar. One by one, the semis rolled out of the hangar and out of the base, forming a caravan once out of the perimeter of the base. The long caravan made its way toward Abadan Refinery.

At the hotel, the group was still sleeping in their respected spots until the sound of the alarm from the communication radio blared throughout the room. Rune groggily got up from her bed and staggered drunkenly over to the radio. She steadied her still sleepy self with the table and grabbed the microphone.

"This is Rune," Rune yawned as she stared at the radio through tired eyes.

"Rune, this is J," J replied through the radio. "After much searchin', Exile, Max, n' I have finally found the whereabouts of Parvo's new base."

"Where's it at?" Rune asked, shaking her head to be more alert.

"He's in a populated city in Iran…just a moment," J paused for moment before continuing. "The satellites are pickin' up a major disturbance at the Abadan Refinery in Iran."

"Is it another oil drum theft?"

"Looks like it. Y'all need to hurry n' get over there n' stop 'em before they take all of the oil drums."

"We will, and we'll keep you updated on the progress," Rune replied as she terminated the link. She turned around and noticed that everyone else in the group was slowly waking up. "We need to hurry guys. Parvo has struck again."

"Where did ol' lick and a hairball strike?" Raymond asked as he got up from the floor, stretching and popping his back from his night on the floor. He quickly looked over to the white tiger and quickly added, "No offense."

"He is striking the Abadan Refinery in Iran," Rune answered.

"You mean the home of President Armageddon?" Raymond asked with a shocked look. "We're fixed."

"We all appreciate your level of optimism, Raymond," Briggs said, looking at the black Labrador with stern look before turning his attention to group. "Okay everyone, we have a situation in Iran, and we have to stop the situation before it gets worse. Let's move team."

Everyone gathered all the stuff that they brought with them to the hotel and left the room. They headed down the lobby and returned their room key to the desk clerk. Once out of the hotel, they hailed a couple of taxi cabs that took them to the airport so that they could pick up the Turbo Jet Rover. The trip to the airport took them fifteen minutes. They paid the drivers and made their way over to the hangar the Turbo Jet Rover was stored during their stay in Yemen. They entered the hangar and boarded the Turbo Jet Rover.

Inside the Turbo Jet Rover, the crew took their respected positions. Briggs raised the exit ramp from the pilot control panel and started the engines. He guided the aircraft onto the runway and requested permission for takeoff from the control tower. Once their permission was granted, the Turbo Jet Rover began its journey toward Iran to stop Jake and the other canomutants.

At the Abadan Refinery, the canomutants had already arrived at the refinery and knocked out the employees. The GEN-PAR Inc. semis are backing into the loading docks of the massive refinery. The driver's got out of the tractors and opened the doors to the trailers. Inside the refinery, there were large amounts of oil drums. The canomutants that were inside the storage facility began to form multiple assembly lines so that they could transfer the drums into the trailers faster.

Jake stood on the sidelines, supervising the theft in progress. He watched the canomutants load the barrels into the trailers with a bored expression on his face, hoping for some kind entertainment. He wasn't really enthused when they knocked out all the personnel in the refinery. He stroked the fur that was under his chin and looked at the horizon, waiting for the Rovers to stir things up and giving him something to do. His ears pricked up as he heard the sound of engines overhead, and he looked up to see the Turbo Jet Rover soar above the refinery. A smile crept onto his face.

"Things are about to liven up," he said to himself and turned toward the canomutants that weren't doing anything. "Listen up you lazy drool monkeys, those mangy mongrels and that troublesome tiger are coming this way. Let them have it with extreme prejudice."

Outside of the refinery, the Turbo Jet Rover landed. The exit ramp lowered, allowing the Rovers to exit the aircraft. The group stayed under the shade of the aircraft's wings. Ice Blaze looked through the binoculars at the refinery to check out the situation.

"What do you see?" Briggs asked the white tiger.

"They're already loadin' up the drums into the semis," Ice Blaze answered as he continued to look through the binoculars. "I see Jake. From the looks of it, he seems to be waiting on something 'cause he's tappin' his foot, n' he's lookin'…"

"What's wrong?" Dylan asked as he approached Ice Blaze.

"He's lookin' in our direction," the tiger said, lowering the binoculars and turning his gaze toward the group.

"He must've heard us as we flew over the refinery," Zudnik reasoned as he rubbed his right hand underneath his chin.

"What should we do?" Rune asked, looking at the group with concern. "The element of surprise is definitely out of the question."

"Well, since we can't do a surprise attack," Briggs began as he walked past the group to look at the refinery. "We might have to do a frontal assault. We need the strongest fighters up front, and everyone else behind them." He turned toward Ice Blaze. "Is your shoulder going to be okay for this?"

"I may be wounded, but I'm definitely not outta the fight," Ice Blaze said as he flexed his left arm. "It'll take more than mere bullets to bring this big cat down. You can count on me to do whatever it takes to get the job done."

"I'm glad to hear it soldier," Briggs nodded as he turned his attention back toward the group. "Here's the plan, Zudnik, Ice Blaze, and I will take the front and take down as many canomutants as possible. Rune, Raymond, and Dylan will be behind us and take down those that are left standing. Are we all clear?"

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement with the plan, and Briggs signaled the group to move out. Everyone got into the formation that Briggs planned out and charged toward the refinery. They raced past the knocked perimeter fence and made their way toward the storage area.

"It's time to get this party started," Jake said as he motioned the other canomutants to follow him.

The two groups met straight on. Briggs and Zudnik created a clothesline by grabbing onto each other's hand. They knocked out four canomutants in the process. Ice Blaze used his left shoulder to tackle another one to the ground. Dylan and Raymond created a make shift jumping platform with their arms for Rune as she ran and jumped onto the platform. The two males gave her an extra boost by quickly lifting their arms as she jumped off the platform. She kicked two canomutants in the face, breaking their muzzles on contact, but the canomutants had no time to react as they made contact with the ground and fell unconscious.

As the battle raged on, the other canomutants continued to load the oil drums onto the semis as fast as they could.

Jake squared off with his younger brother, Dylan. They circled each other. Jake had his knife, but Dylan had no weapon whatsoever.

"Jake, I don't want to hurt you," Dylan said as he continued to circle his older brother.

"Well, that's too bad runt because I do," Jake said as he lunged at the younger mutt.

Dylan quickly dodged as Jake thrusts the knife in Dylan's direction. Jake quickly tossed the knife to his left hand and swiped at Dylan. Dylan barely dodged the swipe. His jersey received at tear from the swipe of the knife. Jake continued to swipe the knife at his brother, and Dylan jumped back as each swipe passed by him. Dylan tripped on a rock and fell onto his back. Jake towered over his brother with a blood thirsty grin on his face.

"What's the matter punk?" Jake asked as he bent down and waved the knife in front of his younger sibling's face, who stared at the blade with fear. "Are you afraid that no one is going to save you? Well, you should be." He was inches from Dylan's face. "Nobody likes you because you're a freak, and I'll be doing them a favor when I kill you."

He flashed his sharp canines at his younger brother and held him down with his left hand on Dylan's throat, preventing the younger mutt from breathing. Dylan was gasping for air but was unable to with his older brother's death grip on his neck. Jake laughed at his brother's vain attempt to breathe. However, Jake's fun quickly ended when he was tackled by Briggs. Dylan sat up and started to breathe real hard, grabbing onto his neck with both hands. He turned his head toward Briggs and Jake and saw them struggling to get the upper hand on the other.

Jake and Briggs rolled on the ground as they tried to get the upper hand. Jake kneed Briggs in the chest, causing Briggs to grab his chest and release his hold of Jake. This gave Jake an opportunity to throw Briggs off of him. Jake scrambled for the knife he dropped when Briggs tackled him. He picked it up and made his way over to where Briggs was still grabbing onto his chest from the attack. Jake raised the knife in the air, but he felt someone grabbing onto his raised arm. He glanced over his shoulder and spotted his younger brother latching onto his arm. Jake used his arm to flip the young teen onto the ground.

"You don't know when to quit do you, punk?" Jake asked as he stood over his brother with a frown on his face and placed a foot on his brother's neck. He applied pressure on the younger mutt's neck, causing Dylan to lose air again. "Got any last words before joining the land of the dead?" He paused to listen to his brother's gasps. "What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"

As he said that, he received a sharp blow to the head by Ice Blaze.

"I'm so gettin' tired of hearin' that ancient line," Ice Blaze growled, walking over to Dylan and offering a hand. "You a'ight?"

"Thanks," Dylan wheezed as he accepted the tiger's offer and was assisted onto his feet.

Jake sat up and was dazed from the blow to the head. One of the canomutants rushed over to Jake and helped him to his feet and led him away from the brawl. The canomutants finished loading the oil drums into the semis and began to board the trailers. Another canomutant tossed a smoke grenade into the middle of the brawl, creating a smoke screen for the other canomutants to retrieve their fallen comrades. Once they were all gathered, the sounds of the semis rang throughout the area, alerting the Rovers that the canomutants are pulling out of the area. The Rovers ran out of the smoke screen and saw the caravan of semis heading back toward the city.

"Hurry, let's get back to the Turbo Jet Rover and get the Cycle Rovers," Zudnik called out as he raced toward the aircraft, with everyone else following the grey furred husky.

The Rovers reached the Turbo Jet Rover and entered the aircraft. They headed toward the cargo area, where they stored the Cycle Rovers, high performance motorcycles with built in weaponry and could hold up to two people. There were three Cycle Rovers in the cargo area. Rune and Briggs took the first one, with Rune driving. Dylan and Ice Blaze took the second vehicle, and Dylan was the designated driver. Raymond and Zudnik took the last Cycle Rover, with Raymond as the driver.

"Alright team, let's stop these canomutants once and for all," Briggs called out from behind Rune.

The engines roared to life, and the Cycle Rovers peeled off onto the exit ramp and raced toward the heavily populated city. It didn't take long for the Rover to catch up to the semis. Inside the lead semi, Jake looked out of the window and spotted the Rovers. He rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"They're starting to get on my last nerve," Jake growled as he picked up the radio microphone. "Lose these punks, or I'll have your tails on a silver platter."

The nine semis came to an intersection and separated into three groups of three and headed in three different directions. The Rovers decided to split up and follow one of the groups of semis down a street. Rune and Briggs turned left. Dylan and Ice Blaze turned right, and Raymond and Zudnik continued straight.

As Rune and Briggs followed their group of semis, the front two semis were traveling side by side, plowing through the traffic. The cars that were caught in the path of the large vehicles were smashed and pushed off to the side. Pedestrians ran for the closest buildings for cover as the wreckage from the rampaging semis were thrown in every direction. Even the buildings that pedestrians were fleeing into were being bombarded with the flying debris.

The back doors for the trailer of the rear semi opened to reveal the canomutants. The canomutants were armed with their canoblasters and were taking aim at Rune and Briggs. They fired at the two Rovers, but Rune was quick enough to evade the powerful blasts. As Rune evaded the blasts, the blasts struck the road, sending large chunks of it in the air and raining back toward the earth.

Rune fired back at the rear semi with the Cycle Rover's onboard guns. The bullets struck the rear tires, bursting them and causing some of the canomutants to fall out of the trailer from the sudden jolt of the exploding tires. Rune swerved past the fallen mutants and continued the pursuit. The canomutants who fell from the trailer got up to their feet and shook themselves off and ran toward an alley.

Dylan and Ice Blaze were dodging frag grenades and blasts from the canoblasters. The duo kept their heads low so that the shrapnel doesn't pierce them.

"Hey Dylan?" Ice Blaze called out over the thunderous barrage of explosions. "Can you speed this up and head to the right side? I have an idea."

Dylan nodded his head, accelerated the Cycle Rover, and moved the vehicle to the right side of the semi. Ice Blaze kept his right arm around Dylan's chest and freed his left arm. As the Cycle Rover got close to the rear semi's trailer, Ice Blaze extended his claws on his left hand and slashed the tires. The tires exploded, and the trailer began to swerve. Dylan slowed the bike down to prevent the two teens from getting struck by the massive container. Dylan maneuvered the bike behind the swerving semi.

Raymond kept his Cycle Rover at a safe distance from the barrage of the blasts and shrapnel and fired back at the canomutants who were riding the only semi on the street. Unbeknownst to them, the two lead semis were now behind them. The two large vehicles sped up to get on either side of the Cycle Rover and turned sharply toward Raymond and Zudnik, but the duo noticed the maneuver. Raymond accelerated just as the two semis collided with each other. The semis pulled apart and accelerated to catch up with the Cycle Rover. The two semis caught up with the Cycle Rover and were on either side of them again.

"You don't think they're that stupid to pull the same stunt twice do you?" Raymond asked Zudnik as Raymond continued to avoid the bullets that are now being fired from the canomutants in the front semi trailer.

"These are canomutants we're talking about Ray!" Zudnik called back over the roar of the engines and sound of guns firing.

"You're right!" Raymond replied back.

The semis continued to accelerate past the Cycle Rover, but the duo didn't notice two thick black cables that dropped from the back of the trailers. The cables rested on the road and were stretched from one side of the road to the other in a crisscross fashion. The front wheel of the Cycle Rover crossed the crisscrossed cables, and the cables detonated on contact. The blast sent Raymond and Zudnik flying off the Cycle Rover, which was damaged from the blast. They landed onto a couple of cars, leaving large dents on the roofs and cracks on the windows and windshields.

One of the semis stopped, and the trailer doors opened. Four canomutants jumped out of the trailer and made their way over to the fallen Rovers. Two canomutants carried Raymond, and the other two carried Zudnik. The two groups made their way back toward the semi and deposited them in the trailer. The four canomutants hopped back on, and the doors to the trailer were shut. The semi continued down the road to head back to base.

Dylan continued to steer the Cycle Rover from the blasts of the canomutants from the two semis that were in front of them. As the Cycle Rover continued to evade the attacks, a thought struck Ice Blaze.

"Dylan, weren't there three semis?" Ice Blaze yelled over the explosions.

"Yeah, why?" Dylan asked as he continued to evade the attacks.

"Is the third one hidden by the other two that are in front of us?"

Dylan quickly looked down at the screen on the Cycle Rover. On the screen was a zoomed in aerial satellite footage of their position. Dylan only spotted them and the two semis that were in front of them. Dylan raised an eyebrow at the video feed.

"There's only two in front of us!" Dylan called back toward the white tiger.

"Then where's the third one?"

As if on cue, the third semi crashed through an alley and struck the Cycle Rover. Dylan and Ice Blaze were knocked off the vehicle and were sliding across the road with the Cycle Rover not far behind them. The two teens struck a building, and the Cycle Rover crashed into them. Both of them cried out in pain, and they quickly fell unconscious.

The semi that ran into them halted a short distance from where the duo were at. The door to the cab opened, and Jake stepped out of the vehicle and landed on the pavement. He walked over to the unconscious teens with a smile on his face.

"It's a shame that you two are still breathing," Jake said to the unconscious duo. He turned toward the driver of the semi. "You should've plowed right through them." He saw some of the canomutants get out of the trailer. "Get these two and load them into the trailer."

The canomutants moved the damaged Cycle Rover off Dylan and Ice Blaze and carried the two teens to the back of the trailer. Jake walked back to the cab and got in. He heard the sound of the doors to the trailer closing and told the driver to return to base. The driver nodded and drove the semi toward the base.

Rune continued to pursue the canomutants. One of the canomutants shot in front of the Cycle Rover, which sent a large chunk of the pavement heading toward Rune and Briggs. Rune shot the chunk and broke it into smaller pieces.

"Nice shooting, Rune!" Briggs called out to the female beagle.

"Thanks!" Rune called back as she continued the pursuit.

Suddenly, a large explosion erupted from the building on the duo's direct left, and the building was about to collapse on them. Rune accelerated the Cycle Rover to avoid the crumbling building. Briggs looked up and noticed two sets of canomutants on the rooftops. There was one set of canomutants on each side of the street. The two sets were jumping from rooftop to rooftop to keep up with the Cycle Rover.

The group on the left fired a shot at a building on the Rovers' right, causing it to collapse. Rune sped up, but a second explosion occurred to a building that was ahead of them. Two more explosions occurred on both sides of them, causing two more buildings to begin collapsing. The collapsing buildings and the debris rained down onto the two Rovers.

One of the semis stopped. The two canomutant groups on the rooftops used the fire escape stair wells to get back to the bottom. They hurried over to the large pile of rubble and began to dig for the buried bodies of Rune and Briggs. It took them a few minutes before they recovered the unconscious bodies from the wreckage. They carried the two Rovers to the trailer and made their way back to Parvo's base.

Forty five minutes have passed, and the Rovers were lying unconscious in one of Parvo's holding cells. The holding cell that the group is currently in was in a lurid state. The only light source within the cell was the old light fixture in the center of the cell. The light occasionally flickered and sparked. A mildewed caked toilet sat in the upper right hand corner of the cell, with a sink with a leaky faucet sitting next to it. The pipe under the sink was rusty and also leaky with a constant drip of water. Mold had built up around all the walls in the cell. There are four beds in bunk bed fashion that are on either side of the cell. There were also two cots that were in the middle of the cell.

Rune and Briggs were lying on the left bunks. Dylan and Ice Blaze were bandaged and lying on the cots. Raymond and Zudnik were lying on the right bunks. One by one, the group slowly regained consciousness. Once their senses finally returned, they realized that they were in a holding cell.

"What happened?" Zudnik groaned as he slowly sat up in his bunk. "My head is killing me."

"Well, consider yourself lucky," Ice Blaze said as he tried to sit up, but a sharp pain shot up through his chest, causing him to fall back onto the cot.

"Lucky?" Raymond cried out in disbelief and quickly turned his head toward the white tiger. He quickly grabbed his head as the room spun around. Once he regained his sense of direction, he took his hands off his head and continued. "Zudnik and I were singing I Believe I Can Fly!"

"Pssh, that ain't nothin'," Ice Blaze replied with a wave of his left hand. "Try gettin' steam rolled by a semi."

"Oh yeah," Rune snapped at the two males, losing her cheerful disposition. "How about being crushed by tons of rubble and building debris?"

"Everyone, please," Dylan pleaded as he tried to alleviate the building tension within the cell. "We don't need to argue like this, especially in the condition we're all in."

"Preach on my brother," a voice called out from the other side of the cell door.

Everyone within the cell turned their attention toward the door. Jake and a teenage African American were standing at the door. The teen is well built with cornrows and dark skin. He was wearing a black short sleeve t-shirt that says, "People think I'm crazy", black baggy jeans, and black skateboard shoes.

"Why are you two here?" Briggs questioned the two teens that are standing on the opposite side of the holding cell as he got up into a seating position.

"Well, Parvo allowed us to have some friends over for a play date," Jake replied with a twisted smile on his face. "Plus, I get to spend some quality time with my younger brother."

"As for me, I haven't made it to high school anatomy," Khalil said he wrung his hands together with anticipation. "So, I'm 'bout to have a crash course."

"You're sick," Jake said as he took a step away from Khalil.

"You're the sick puppy who thought of it," Khalil retorted as he shot an accusing finger over to the gruffer mutt. "I wasn't even thinkin' 'bout that."

"No one understands what you think," Ice Blaze called out from within the cell.

"You shut up," Khalil said, pointing his finger at the white tiger. "I'm definitely going to have some fun wit' you."

Ice Blaze opened his mouth to say something, but he quickly shut it. He turned his head toward Rune's direction.

"Rune…"

"Don't you dare," Rune interrupted the big cat's question with a venomous glare.

"Let's stop this before it blows out of proportion," Zudnik said as he attempted to divert everyone from the awkward moment.

Briggs placed his left hand over his face and said, "You're not helping this situation, Zudnik."

Khalil and Jake decided to leave the holding cell area before the situation got even more awkward. Once they left, the Rovers began to assess the situation. They realized that they were captured by Parvo and knew that they needed backup to escape, but they don't have any form of communication to request backup. Everyone's dog tags were removed from their collars, with the exception of Ice Blaze because he doesn't wear collar, but everyone's phone was also confiscated. Everyone hoped that help would soon be on its way.


	9. Sending in the Calvary

Chapter 9: Sending in the Cavalry

At RRMC Briefing Room, J was informing Master of status of the mission.

"Sir, I have found Parvo's base," J announced as he displayed the location on the main screen. "Usin' the video feed from the chase that occurred within the city, I was able to track the semis n' find their base of operations."

"That's excellent," Master praised the teen.

"On the flip side though," J continued as he typed something on the keyboard, and the screen split into three panels, each showing a different part of the chase. "The group has been captured n' taken prisoner."

"This is not good," Master said as he pushed a button on the console to activate the PA system. "I need the main team to assemble in the briefing room."

Within a couple of minutes, Hunter, Colleen, Shag, Exile, and Blitz arrived in the briefing room and assembled at the circular table. Master looked at the Rovers to see if he got their attention and then proceeded to tell them of the situation.

"Rovers," he began as he looked at the team. "By now, you probably know the situation about the stolen oil drums in the Middle East. The culprit behind this heinous deed is General Parvo. We sent another team to put a stop to this, but as of earlier today, they were captured." He gestured toward the screen. "As you can see from this footage, they were chasing the canomutants within this city in Iran, but the chase ended with their capture. However, we were able to find out the location of Parvo's base with the video feed." He focused back on the main team. "Your job, Rovers, is to go to Iran, put a stop to Parvo's plan, rescue Briggs's team, and return the stolen oil drums to the refineries."

"Yes sir," the main team replied in unison and saluted the man.

Hunter looked at his team and said, "Alright gang, we're dogs with a mission. We're…"

"Road Rovers!" they cried out and gave loud howl that echoed throughout the briefing room.

They rushed out of the briefing room and entered the hangar. They made their way over to the Sonic Rover and climbed aboard. Hunter and Colleen took their positions as pilot and co-pilot respectively. Exile and Blitz sat behind Hunter and Colleen respectively, and Shag sat behind Exile. Hunter and Colleen placed a headset on their heads and checked the instruments.

"This is Sonic Rover requesting permission for takeoff," Hunter spoke into the headset.

"Permission granted," J replied through the radio. "Have a safe flight n' be careful."

"We will," Hunter said as he started the Sonic Rover's engines.

The Sonic Rover began to gain altitude and rose to the surface. Hunter guided the aircraft toward the location of Parvo's base and flew in that direction. Once the coordinates were entered into the aircraft's computer, Colleen activated the aircraft's autopilot and looked over to Hunter.

"'untie, 'ow are we going to get inside Parvo's base?" she asked, looking at her leader.

"Hm, that's good question," Hunter said as he placed his right hand underneath his muzzle and looked up in thought. He then snapped his fingers. "I got it! Why don't we dig a tunnel?"

"Comrade Hunter, I'm sorry to parade on your rain, but we tried that before," Exile said as he remembered the past tunnel experience when the main team had to rescue the kidnapped dogs from Parvo's facility.

"Why don't we just stick with a sneak attack?" Blitz suggested with his arms crossed.

"I hate to admit, but I agree with Binky over there," Colleen said with a sad sigh.

"Thank you pretty girlie dog," Blitz said with a sly smile on his face before it quickly turned to a frown. "And my name is Blitz."

"Sorry, doesn't ring a bell," Colleen said as she brushed her hair behind her shoulders.

"Mission Control to Sky Rover," J called from the radio. "Do you read me?"

"Loud and clear," Colleen answered the teen. "What's going on?"

"Well, I have some bad news n' some worse news," J replied. "What do you want first?"

"What's the bad news," Colleen asked as she shifted in her seat.

"The bad news is that I just took a thorough look at Parvo's base, n' he's got that sucker decked out wit' heavy security."

"What's the worse news?" Hunter asked with a hint of worry in his voice.

"I'm takin' back Parvo's stupidity once again," J replied with a hint of annoyance.

Everyone on board the Sky Rover smacked themselves in the forehead. Hunter quickly recovered and spoke into the headset.

"Hey J, is there anything you can do about Parvo's security system?"

"I'll see what I can do," J replied before adding, "If y'all need anything else, just give me a call."

"We will," Hunter said as he terminated the transmission.

At his office in his base, General Parvo was in the middle of a video conference with President Bush. They were discussing the oil drums.

"Mr. President," Parvo said to the president as he reclined in his chair. "You can't get any oil unless the United States pays the price that I'm asking for."

"Aw shoot," President Bush said as he scratched his head. "I don't know what to do. Someone get me Cheney." He waited for a couple of minutes, but the vice president never showed up. A secret service agent entered the oval office and approached Bush. "Where's Cheney?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. President," the secret service agent replied. "The Vice President is currently at an anger management class because he shot another hunter."

"Aw double shoot," President Bush sighed with disappointment. "I can't make these tough decisions." He looked at the screen that had Parvo's picture in it. "What do you think I should do?"

"Well, I think you should pay my asking price for the oil," Parvo suggested with a smile forming on his face.

"That's a wonderful idea," Bush exclaimed with a smile on his face. He was completely oblivious to the shocked expression on the agent's face. "Dang it, I'm stupid! Why didn't I think of this in the first place?"

"I'm glad that I could help," Parvo said as his smile grew. "I'll be expecting your payment soon, and you'll receive your oil soon afterward." He terminated the connection between him and President Bush. He reclined in his seat further and placed his hands behind his head. "I just adore that fool's gullibility."

Groomer and Khalil entered Parvo's office and walked over to Parvo. Parvo noticed the two and sat up in his office chair to look at the two people.

"Groomer, I got some wonderful news," Parvo said with the smile still on his face.

"Well, I got some bad news," Groomer said with a frown on her face.

"What is it?" Parvo said as he leaned forward.

"The Road Rovers are coming this way," Groomer replied.

"We don't have to worry about those meddling mutts," Parvo said, leaning back in his chair and waving the situation off with his right hand. "We have the most sophisticated security system out there."

"Yeah, but my cousin would render this thing useless in a heartbeat," Khail pointed out. "I suggest you beef it up before he cracks it."

After he mulled over what Khalil has said, Parvo pushed a button his desk.

"What is it Mr. Parvo?" a male Indian accent answered through the radio.

"Chuck, I need you and your team to beef up the security system," Parvo ordered. "And act fast."

"We will act on it as if it was Black Friday at the Dollar Store," Chuck replied before terminating the connection.

"You just had to go cheap," Khalil said with an accusing tone at the man before him.

"It's merely business," Parvo answered. "So, now that we have that situation under control, I have got our first buyer for the oil."

"Who?" Groomer and Khalil asked in unison with interest in the voices.

A few hours later in the RRMC Briefing Room, Master and J were watching a special press conference that President Bush has called.

"My fellow Americans," President Bush began as he looked at the crowd of reporters. "As you are aware, we are in the middle of an oil crisis. Oil refineries in the Middle East have been stripped of oil drums, causing gas prices to increase to unheard of prices to the gallon. However, our oil problems are over. I have agreed to Parvo's suggestion of paying his asking price for the oil."

There was a major uproar within the media at the press conference. At Mission Control, Master and J just stared at the screen with dumbfounded looks on their faces.

"Great," J said as he hung his head and shook it. "Pinocchio just dug us a deeper grave." He raised his head and looked at Master. "Master."

"Yes," Master answered, switching his attention from the press conference to the teen.

"Do you know 'bout the White House Halloween costume party?"

"Yes I do. What about it?"

"Well, I have the perfect costumes for Bush n' Cheney," J said, sitting up in his seat. "Bush can be a quail, n' Cheney can be Elmer Fudd wit' Alzheimer's n' a loaded shotgun."

"Anyway," Master said as he tried to get back on track and steer the teen away from doing anything drastic. "How are you coming along with cracking Parvo's security system?"

"It's been done for quite some time," J replied with a smile. "This time, I'm not going to question Parvo's stupidity for there might be a chance that I'll have to take it back once again."


	10. From Riches to Rags

Chapter 10: From Riches to Rags

A few hours later, the Sonic Rover arrived and landed at an airport in Iran. The main team got out of their seats and headed to the garage bay that was located within the aircraft. They walked up to two dog shaped vehicles: one was red and the other was blue. Hunter turned toward his team.

"Colleen and Shag, you'll be riding with me in the red Street Rover," Hunter said before turning toward Exile and Blitz. "Exile, take Blitz with you in the blue Street Rover."

"Da comrade Hunter," Exile said with a nod of his head as he and Blitz walked over to the blue Street Rover.

Hunter walked over to the wall where the keys for the Street Rovers were kept, but Colleen took the keys off the wall before he did.

"'untie, I believe it's my turn to drive," Colleen said, twirling the key ring on her right index finger.

"Well, okay," Hunter said as he dug into his armor suit for his wallet. "But I'm going to check to see if I have my donor card with me this time."

"While you're doing that, I'm going to start up the Street Rover," Colleen said as she walked over to the Street Rover. "Come along Shag."

Shag whimpered a bit as he strapped a helmet onto his head and grabbed a Bible from within his fur. He walked over the Street Rover and got into the backseat behind Colleen. Once Hunter found his donor card, he walked over to the front passenger seat and got into the vehicle.

"Alright team, let's hit the road!" Hunter said as Colleen shifted into drive and floored the gas.

Both Street Rovers shot out of the back of the Sonic Rover and made their way into the city, heading toward Parvo's base.

In his office, Parvo was busy preparing the order for the United States before he receives the money. A sound came from the intercom on his desk. He stopped typing on the keyboard of his computer and pushed a button.

"Yes, what is it?" he answered the intercom.

"We have finished upgrading the security system sir," Chuck said from the intercom.

"I'm pleased to hear that," Parvo replied as he continued to type on the keyboard. "If I need anything else, I'll let you know." He then terminated the communication link. He paused in his work and stretched for a moment and got up from his seat at the desk. He walked over to the office window and saw the canomutants moving oil drums onto semis so that it could be shipped to their destinations. "Let's see if Shepherd's pets can get through the upgrades." A smile crept onto his face as he made his way back to the desk to fulfill more orders.

A few blocks away from Parvo's base, the Road Rovers were closing in on their desired target. As they arrived at the base, the base's security system kicked in. Spotlights from various perimeter towers focused on the two Street Rovers, and a barrage of bullets from the automatic turrets flew toward the Rovers. The two vehicles began to evade the bullets.

"Mission Control, this is Street Rover Red," Hunter said as he spoke into the microphone of the Street Rover's radio.

"What's going on?" J asked through the radio.

"J, I thought you cracked the security system?"

"I did," J replied. "Hold on, let me check something." There was a short pause before J spoke again. "Well, Ol' Chrome Dome decided to upgrade the security system. I'll have to crack it again, so y'all just hang loose until I can crack it again."

"How long will it take you?" Hunter asked, which was followed by a cry of panic as Colleen nearly drove into Exile and Blitz.

"'bout five or ten minutes, give or take," J answered as he furiously typed on the keyboard.

"You better make it less than five because I don't know how long I have left," Hunter said in a panic as he latched onto the door for dear life as Colleen pulled some near death maneuvers.

The two Street Rovers continued to evade the turrets as long as they could. However, the turrets were causing a lot of damage to the vehicles, mostly bullet holes and cracked windows. After a couple of more minutes of evasion, the automatic turrets were finally shut off. The two vehicles smashed through the front perimeter gates of the base and entered the complex. The vehicles came to a stop, and the Rovers got out of the Street Rovers. A handful of canomutants approached the group.

"Well, it seems like Parvo sent out a welcoming committee," Hunter said, looking at the canomutants. "Let's show him our gratitude."

The Rovers got into a fighting stance. The canomutants charged at the group. Exile fired his ice vision on the ground, creating a thick layer of ice on the ground. The canomutants flailed their arms as they failed to gain their balance. They fell and formed a dog pile. They scrambled to get up to their feet, but every attempt caused them fall back down onto the slippery surface.

"And that's 'ow you keep canomutants entertained for hours, kids," Colleen said as she and the rest of the Rovers walked past the stumbling beasts.

"Hunter, this is J," J said over the headset that Hunter was wearing.

"What is it?" Hunter asked as he and the rest of the team made their way toward the base itself.

"I just tapped into Parvo's mainframe system n' got the low down on the inside of the base, so I can be the eyes for y'all once you're inside the buildin'," J replied through the headset.

"That's great," Hunter said as he put a hold on the link and turned toward the rest of the group. "J said that he has hacked into the base's mainframe and will be helping us out."

"How can that computer geek help us?" Blitz asked with a hint of indifference in his voice.

"Well this computer geek has just saved y'all tails from Parvo's security system," J replied through the headset that Blitz was wearing, causing the Doberman to jump. "Before you ask, I've heard every single word, so next time; don't leave your link on."

The group made their way toward the entrance of the building. Colleen tried the door, and the door was unlocked. They opened door and ventured inside the building. The first room they entered was a lobby that split off in three different directions.

"J, where do we need to go?" Hunter asked the teenaged computer expert.

At the RRMC Briefing Room, J sat in front of his laptop and tapped some keys on the keyboard. On the screen were building plans and live security camera footage of the entire base. He looked through the building plans and footage until he found what he was looking for.

"I have the location of Briggs n' the others 'n the location of the stolen oil drums," J answered after a long pause.

"Where are the others?"

J looked at the security footage to check the number of the security camera before finding the camera on the security camera plan for the base. After a quick search, J found the location of the captured Rovers.

"They're located in the lower level of the base," J replied with a shake of his head. "I swear these bad guys lack originality."

"What about the stolen oil drums?" Colleen asked through the radio.

"It is located in a warehouse that is conveniently located next door to the base," J answered, rolling his eyes.

"Thanks for the info J," Hunter said before turning his attention to the others. "Okay team, we have to split into two groups. Colleen and Shag are going to come with me to rescue the captured Rovers. Exile and Blitz will go after the oil drums. Are there any questions?" Everyone shook their heads. "Alright team, let's roll."

The groups separated into their groups to fulfill their mission objectives. Hunter contacted J again to ask which hallway to take to get to the lower level and was told to take the left hallway because it would be closer to the holding cells that were keeping the captured Rovers. As they walked down the hallway, they approached a door with an electronic lock. Colleen attempted to unlock the door with her computer skills, but the lock was far out her league to crack.

"Hey J, can you get this door open? Colleen tried to get it open, but it didn't work," Hunter asked the teen.

"Sure thing, but I'll need Colleen's help for this," J replied as he found them on the security camera.

"What do you want me to do?" Colleen asked as she waited for J's instructions.

"I need you to connect you computer to the lock, n' I'll connect my computer to yours wirelessly so that we can get it unlocked," J said as he watched on his laptop screen as Colleen connected her laptop to the lock. He waited until a message popped on his laptop's taskbar requesting to connect a link. "A'ight, I hope this works." He furiously typed on the keyboard.

At the base, a click from the lock indicated that the door is now unlocked. Colleen disconnected her laptop from the lock and stored it away. Hunter opened the door and led everyone down the stairwell. The group came across another door and opened the door. When they opened the door, they encountered a group of canomutants.

"Did I fail to mention that the holdin' cell area was heavily guarded by canomutants?" J asked through the headsets followed by a nervous chuckle.

"Yes," everyone said as they got ready for the fight.

Outside of the base, Exile and Blitz made their way toward the storage warehouse, where the stolen oil drums were kept. They kept close to the shadows so that they couldn't be spotted. While still being hidden in the shadows, they approached the warehouse, but they stopped when they noticed two canomutant guards standing on either side of the warehouse door, holding a canoblaster in their hands.

"Exile, what are you going to do?" Blitz said as he looked at the two canomutant guards.

"Well, first I'm going to disar-," Exile began, but he stopped and quickly turned his head toward Blitz with a nasty look on his face. "Oh no you don't comrade. If I'm going upski, you're going up too. Now here's what we're going to do. I'll disarm the guards, and you take them out. It's so easy that even you can do it."

Blitz quickly nodded his head as sweat raced down his frightened face. Exile nodded and turned his attention back toward the two guards. Exile signaled to Blitz to stay behind him. He glanced back at Blitz to see if he understood and saw Blitz nodding his head.

Exile rushed out of the darkness, and Blitz followed in step behind the Russian husky. The canomutant guards spotted the duo and aimed their weapons at the two Rovers. Exile fired his heat vision at the canoblasters and melted the muzzles of the weapons, making them useless. He quickly side stepped to the left, leaving an opening for Blitz. Blitz quickly changed his expression from fear to determination.

"It's time to bite the soft squishy part of evil girly dogs," Blitz said in anticipation as he extended his claws on both of his hands and flashed his sharp teeth.

As he placed his right hand on his face and shook his head, Exile asked, "Comrade, can you not be a weird boy for one day?"

Blitz ignored his teammate's question and lunged toward the canomutant on the left and took a swipe at its left leg, causing the canomutant to fall onto its back. The swipe from Blitz left multiple lacerations in the canomutant's leg. The canomutant slowly got up, growled angrily at the Doberman, and limped over to the Doberman. Before Blitz could react, the canomutant quickly grabbed him. Blitz began to struggle to break free from the behemoth's fierce grasp. The canomutant started to bend Blitz's body.

"Please don't hurt me," Blitz pleaded as pain started to surge throughout his body. "I don't wanna be half perfect!"

Exile tackled the canomutant to the ground, and the physical contact caused the canomutant to drop Blitz onto the ground. Exile quickly encased the canomutant in a block of ice to prevent the beast from breaking free. Blitz crawled over to Exile and kissed Exile's feet.

"Thank you Exile," Blitz said as he continued to kiss Exile's feet.

"Please get therapy," Exile said as he turned his attention toward the other canomutant.

Exile fired his heat vision at the canomutant's feet. The canomutant started to jump around from the burning sensation of the heat vision. It continued to jump around frantically until it ran into the side of the warehouse, falling unconscious. Exile watched the scene with an amused look on his face before he turned his attention over to Blitz. He walked over to the Doberman and helped him to his feet. The two walked over to the door and entered the facility.

The interior of the storage warehouse was quite large, with numerous shelves of stolen oil drums. Exile and Blitz noticed numerous canomutants patrolling the area. There were more canomutants moving the oil drums from the shelves and onto the loading docks so that the drums could be shipped off. Some of the patrolling canomutants spotted the two Rovers and started to ambush them.

In the holding cell area, Briggs's group was still in the cell that they were in. The sights and sounds of numerous canomutants rushing past their cell caught the attention of the group. They got up from their beds and cots and moved toward the cell doors.

"What do you think is going on?" Rune asked as she watched the canomutants scramble down the hallway.

"I believe that help has arrived," Briggs said with a knowing smile on his face.

Suddenly, the lights in the facility go out. Mass hysteria erupted throughout the base. In the holding cells, the canomutants that were rushing in the hallway and fighting Hunter's group lost their sense of direction and started to stumble over things. In his office, Parvo noticed the power outage.

"J, the power went out here," Hunter spoke into the headset. "Do you know what happened?"

"That was my bad on my part," J apologized through the headset. "I'll have it back up in a moment."

A moment later, the power throughout the entire facility came back on. In his office, Parvo growled when the power came back on. A knock was heard from the door, and Khalil entered the room and walked over to Parvo's desk.

"I know I don't have to state the obvious, but I can tell you that my cousin did hack into the mainframe," Khalil said with an 'I know this was going to happen' look on his face. "What do you want me to do?"

"Tell Jake to gather more canomutants and get them into the holding cells," Parvo answered as he drummed his fingers on his desk. "I don't want this operation to fail." Khalil nodded and made his way toward the door. Once the teen left the room, Parvo released a sigh and messaged his temples. "This mess is getting old. Every time it's the same thing. I come up with a plan, and those Rovers mess it up."

In the holding cell area, Hunter's group tied up the canomutants that were in a huge dog pile from when the power went out. The group continued on down the hallway, looking through the cells trying to find the captured Rovers.

"Heads up guys," J announced through the headsets. "Company is waitin' for you up ahead."

"Thanks for the info," Hunter replied as he and the rest of the group were on full alert for the fight up ahead.

They continued down the hall until they were spotted by a group of canomutants. Hunter's group assumed a fighting position and got ready for a brawl. The canomutants charged at the group.

Colleen performed a round house kick to a couple of canomutants, knocking them down to ground unconscious. The two fallen canomutants blocked the pathway, but it didn't stop the canomutants from making their way to the Rovers. They jumped over their fallen comrades and continued the battle.

Hunter quickly dodged a punch that was thrown by another canomutant and performed an uppercut underneath the canomutant's jaw. The canomutant stumbled a moment as it grabbed its jaw, but it quickly shook it off and came back in a raging charge at the golden retriever. Hunter jumped out of the beast's rampaging path, and the canomutant headed straight toward the steel plated wall. Hunter gave a whistle toward the canomutant to catch its attention, and the canomutant quickly turned its head in the direction of the whistle. However, the canomutant forgot about the oncoming wall and smacked it with the right side of its face. The canomutant collapsed to ground unconscious.

Two canomutants surrounded Shag. The sheepdog looked at the two beasts and started to whimper and shiver. The two canomutants jumped toward Shag. Shag yelped and ducked as the canomutants jumped. The two beasts crashed into each other and landed inside Shag's fur. Shag stood up and reached inside his fur to grab the two canomutants. He grabbed them and pulled them out of his fur, and he knocked their heads together, ensuring that the canomutants were unconscious.

At the storage warehouse, Exile and Blitz were engaged in a heated combat with the canomutants. Blitz used his claws to shred the canoblasters the canomutatnts were holding. The canomutants dropped their useless weapons and charged toward the Doberman. Blitz released a growl and flashed his teeth at them. The canomutants came to a sliding halt and turned tail. They gave a short yelp as they ran in the opposite direction, with Blitz right behind them. Blitz lunged for one of the canomutant and bit it in the rear. The victimized canomutant's eyes went wide and gave a loud yelp as it guickly grabbed its behind and ran faster. The other canomutants saw what happened to their comrade and decided to floor it out of the area before they suffered the same fate. Blitz stopped his pursuit and spat out a piece of the canomutant's pants from his mouth. He pulled out a notepad and pen from within his armor and added a mark to his list.

"I'm one tooshie closer to getting a new flea collar," Blitz said with a pleased look on his face as he placed the notepad and pen back into his armor.

Exile froze a group of canomutants and said, "Please seek help." He scanned the room with his X-ray vision and realized that all the entire storage facility has been cleared. He tapped his headset. "Comrade Hunter, we cleared the storage facility of all evil doggie men."

Inside the holding cell area, Hunter's group continued through the area until Hunter heard Exile's voice through his headset.

"That's great buddy," Hunter replied as he continued to run down the hall. "I need you and Blitz to stay where you are and keep guard of the oil drums."

"Will doski comrade," Exile said before terminating the link.

"Okay gang," Hunter said as the group made their way deeper into the holding cell area. "Exile and Blitz have taken care of the storage facility. Now we need to find the others."

"Hunter, is that you?" Dylan called out from one of the cells.

"Yeah, it's us buddy," Hunter answered as he and the rest of the group ran toward the source. "Hang on tight; we'll be there in a moment."

"Well, get ready for a throw down," Ice Blaze added from down the hall. "Jake brought some friends along wit' him."

"Shut up you overgrown fur ball, or I'll rip those stripes right off of you," Jake's voice echoed throughout the hallway.

The sound of a bone crushing punch reverberated throughout the hallway followed by a loud yell and a stream of colorful language. Hunter's group heard growling noises and sounds of a fight now erupting down the hall. The group quickened their pace and arrived to a fight between the canomutants and Briggs's group. The captured Rovers, mostly Briggs, Zudnik, and Ice Blaze were grabbing canomutants that were close to their cell and yanked them toward the cell door bars. Hunter's group noticed Jake on the floor with a bleeding and broken muzzle, and they assumed that he was the one that got hit a moment ago.

Colleen rushed in and sweep kicked four canomutant's legs, causing them to fall on the ground. The quickly got up and surrounded the female collie. She ducked as one of the canomutants threw a punch, and she quickly kicked the canomutant that threw the punch in the chest. The canomutant clutched its chest and doubled over in pain and fell unconscious when a sharp blow connected with the back of its head, causing the beast to collapse onto the ground. Colleen spun on her right foot and round house kicked a second canomutant in the head. The second canomutant crashed into a third canomutant, and the duo fell unconscious on top of each other. The fourth canomutant grabbed onto Colleen, but Colleen broke free with a sharp elbow jab to the stomach. She quickly grabbed the canomutant and flipped the massive beast over her head. The canomutant landed on top of the other canomutants.

Hunter used his speed and clothes lined two canomutants. The two canomutants landed on their backs, and their heads met the floor, knocking them out. As he continued to run, Hunter jump kicked another canomutant in the chest, sending the brute flying down the hallway.

The battle finally ended, and the majority of the canomutants were unconscious. Shag was busy tying up Jake and the canomutants, while Hunter and Colleen were busy opening up and checking on the captured group. Once everyone was checked out by Colleen, Hunter signaled everyone to listen to him.

"Alright, now that we're back together, we have two more things to take care of, so we need to split up into two different groups," Hunter said as he looked at the group. "One group will have to stop Parvo, and the other group has to help Exile and Blitz with loading the oil drums into the semis so that we can transport them back to the Turbo Jet Rover and Sonic Rover."

"Hunter, I'll go with you to stop Parvo," Briggs volunteered as he stepped forward.

"Same here comrade," Zudnik said as he also stepped forward.

"Due to my wound, count me out," Ice Blaze said as he pointed to his injured shoulder.

"I understand," Hunter nodded in understanding. "Okay, everyone else will go help with the oil drum loading. Alright team, let's move."

Everyone rushed out of the holding cell area and made their way up the stairwell. They made their way back toward the lobby. The large group separated into their respected groups to take care of their objectives.

In the command center, Parvo tightly clenched his cybernetic fist and slammed it on the console he was standing at.

"Those Rovers have once again foiled my plans," Parvo growled through clenched teeth. "This plan was fool proof. Where did I go wrong?"

"Time n' time again, you underestimate 'em sir," Khalil said as he walked beside Parvo. "N' every time, they turn your little plan on its side."

"Look on the bright side general," Groomer began as she rubbed her gloved hand on Parvo's right arm. "You still got some money from those countries that desperately needed the oil."

"You're right," Parvo said as he gave a small smile. He noticed something on console. "What this?" He typed something on the keyboard that was embedded in the console. "It seems that I got an email from the United States. It might be the money for their oil order."

As Parvo opened the message, the console shorted out. Parvo jumped back as the console started to overload. All around the command center, the computer systems started to erupt in smoke and sparks. The entire base began to shake from overloading systems in various locations within the base.

"What's going on?" Groomer asked in a panic as she dodged a piece of the ceiling.

"It has to be a virus that my cousin created," Khalil answered and turned his attention to Parvo. "We need to get outta here before we're buried alive."

Parvo nodded in agreement. Parvo, Groomer, and Khalil made their way to the door. Parvo grabbed the handle and turned it, but the door was locked. He tried again, but the door still didn't budge. Parvo realized that the door locks were integrated with the mainframe system.

The group frantically looked around the collapsing command center until they remembered the hidden passageway. They scrambled toward the left wall of the command center and furiously ran their hands along the wall to find the hidden door to the emergency exit. Groomer found the door and pushed it open. The trio hurriedly made their way through the opening as the larger debris fell from the ceiling and blocked the opening. They made their way to the exit. Groomer opened door, but she froze in horror. Standing in front of the trio were Hunter, Briggs, and Zudnik.

"A little birdie told us that you would be coming this way," Hunter said with a smug on his face, crossing his arms. "Alright guys, pick a dance partner."

Khalil pulled out his knife and lunged toward Zudnik, but Zudnik side stepped and karate chopped the teen in the neck, knocking him out instantaneous. At the sight of that, Parvo and Groomer quickly gave up. Hunter and Briggs hand cuffed the duo. Zudnik picked up Khalil's body, and the three Rovers made their way toward the others. As they arrived at the storage area, they noticed the local authorities aiding the Rovers with loading the oil drums into the numerous semis.

"Hey, I see that you guys got some reinforcements," Hunter called over to the group.

"Yeah, Master notified them, and they were nice enough to lend us a hand," Rune called out as she passed an oil drum to one of the officers.

"I see y'all got some nice souvenirs," Ice Blaze said as he grabbed an oil drum and pushed it toward the back of the trailer.

"We sure did," Hunter said as he, Zudnik, and Briggs handed the three to the local authorities.

It took the large group a few hours to load and transport the oil drums from the storage facility to the Turbo Jet Rover and Sonic Rover at the airport. Once all the oil drums were loaded into the two aircrafts, with the exception of the oil drums that were labeled for Abadan Refinery, the Rovers boarded the two aircrafts and took off. Along the way, the Rovers contacted all the refineries and local authorities to inform them that the stolen oil drums are being returned to them.

After the all the oil drums were delivered back to their respectful owners, the two Rover teams made their way back toward Road Rover Mission Control. A few hours later, the two aircrafts arrived at the hangar and powered down. The two teams exited the two aircrafts and made their way toward the briefing room.

Waiting in the briefing room were Master and J, who was standing up with the aid of his crutches. The group stood in front of Master, and J hopped over to the group and stood in line with them. Master looked at the group with a smile on his face.

"Congratulations Rovers," Master congratulated the large group. "Parvo, Groomer, Jake, and Khalil have been turned in to the proper authorities. All of the oil drums and money have been returned to their rightful owners."

"How did the money get returned if Parvo had it?" Blitz asked with a skeptic look on his face.

"I created a virus that not only hindered Parvo's mainframe like a bricked console, but it also took all the money that he earned n' returned it to their rightful owners," J explained with a smirk on his face. "I call it the Whammy virus."

"You all did a good job Rovers," Master complimented to the group. "You're all good dogs and cat. Good, good dogs and cat."

"Hey, Hunter," Ice Blaze said, looking at the golden retriever.

"What is it, Blaze?" Hunter asked as he turned to look at the teenaged tiger.

"Can J n' I say it this time?"

"Okay, but you have to say like you mean it," Hunter answered with a smile growing on his face.

"To the power of the pack!" J and Ice Blaze cried out in unison.

The canines howled, and the white tiger let out a roar. The roar startled Blitz and Shag, causing them to jump, and the duo landed in Hunter's arms, causing the poor dog to collapse to the ground from their combined weight.

Master chuckled as he shook his head and thought, "Yes, that roar will definitely take some getting used to." A moment later he let out a sneeze and remarked to himself, "Oh boy, I need to find a way to alleviate my allergies before we resort to shaving a cat."

A/N: Feel free to leave a comment or make a suggestion because they will help me make these stories better. I wish everyone have a Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year.


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